The Breaking of Dawn
by Eleature
Summary: Kagome's in heat and she gets attacked by a mysterious youkai. It bites her and strange things begins to happen with her. What will she do? What will INUYASHA do?
1. Burning Bite

The Breaking of Dawn  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.  
  
Chapter one – Burning Bite  
  
Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha as they walked. He had been in a terrible mood the entire day. Not that it was unusual for him, but it was beginning to affect her too. She was worried that he was angry with her, but she couldn't find any reason for it and that made 'her' angry. Finally she couldn't take it anymore so she broke the silence.  
  
"Inuyasha is something wrong?"  
  
He ignored her and just kept walking. That was so typical of him. He was the only one that could raise her anger with absolutely no reason whatsoever. And the fact that he was able to do that only made her more irritated. Shaking her head, she decided that if he ignored her, then she would ignore him. He had no right to make her feel the way she did...  
  
It wasn't easy for Inuyasha to be near Kagome at this time of the month. She probably didn't even think about how it affected him when she was in heat. With Sango it didn't really seem like such a big problem. Sure, he noticed it when she was in heat, but it didn't drive his senses crazy in the same way Kagome did. With Sango it was enough to keep at a distance, but with Kagome 'distance' only worked to make him more frustrated.  
  
Growling under his breath he sent the object of his problems an angry glare. She didn't even seem to notice since she was busy ignoring him in return. Well, that certainly made his problem somewhat easier. As long as she didn't talk or look at him, he could try to ignore the enticing smell that came from her. To some degree.  
  
As the evening approached, the travelling group began to look for somewhere to make a camp. It didn't take long before they found a clearing in the thick wood surrounding them. Inuyasha checked the area for the smell of youkai and humans. When he was certain that they were alone and in no obvious danger he began to make his way back to the others. He was dreading it at the same time as he was anxious to be back. The alluring scent of Kagome always in mind. He didn't want to leave her alone for too long when she was in heat. There were a lot of demons that would kill for the opportunity to mate with a virgin. And if the virgin was in heat, then all the better. He didn't want Kagome to be raped by horny demons only driven by instincts. In fact, he didn't want Kagome to be mated to anyone except himself. He had realised a long time ago the truth of that, and in his mind it only made her more his. Every time he'd seen Kagome with that asshole Kouga, he'd been pissed. Why couldn't the damned wolf just stay away? Growling under his breath again he entered the clearing and was immediately struck by Kagome's scent.  
  
Damn... He had almost forgotten about that while he was patrolling and fuming over Kouga. Sitting down he braced himself for an endless internal fight with his instincts and his conscience.  
  
"Inuyasha, did you see a hot spring when you were on your round?"  
  
Inuyasha looked up at Sango. She obviously wanted to take a bath, and then Kagome would want to go with her. He wasn't really sure if he wanted that to happen. He might be tempted to follow. Heck. He 'was' tempted to follow. Besides, he didn't want to let Kagome go anywhere alone in the state she was in now.  
  
"No. I didn't see a hot spring."  
  
It was the truth after all. He hadn't seen a hot spring, but he had seen a small lake. He wasn't going to tell her tough. That's when the annoying monk interfered...  
  
"Hey! I know this place. I travelled through here some weeks before I met you and Kagome. There's no hot springs around, but there's a really beautiful lake nearby. I'd be delighted to show you the way." Sango just grunted at the hentai expression on the monks face. "I'm sure you would Miroku. But I'll be happy if you just give me the directions." She looked up as Kagome approached.  
  
"Do you want to come too Kagome?" Kagome smiled and nodded. "Just wait a sec and I'll get my stuff." When she came back, she addressed Shippo. "Listen up. I'd be really happy if you could stay here and make sure that Inuyasha and Miroku doesn't follow. Would you do that for me?" When Inuyasha growled low in his throat the kitsune glanced curiously at him. "Sure I'll do that Kagome, but why?" Kagome just smiled and shook her head. "I'll tell you some other time." With that she walked after Sango who had gotten the directions from Miroku earlier.  
  
Inuyasha was in half a mood to follow them, but he knew that the little kit would jump at the opportunity to get him sat. Miroku looked like he didn't care about any punishment the girls might give him, but when he saw the glare Inuyasha sent him, he wisely kept still. There was one thing that Inuyasha was grateful for tough. The lake was in the direction the wind went, so he was safe from Kagome's scent for a while.  
  
Kagome walked slowly into the cool water. Shivers went up her spine as she tried to get used to it and goosebumps began to spread over her skin. She couldn't understand how Sango acted so unaffected, but believed it could have something to do with the fact that Sango had grown up without warm water at her call twenty-four seven. "Ahh..." As she finally managed to work up enough courage to lower her entire body the water quickly became more comfortable.  
  
"I'm never going to get used to this Sango." "What do you mean?" Sango looked curiously at Kagome. Kagome smiled and began to scrub her body with her scented soap. "This. It's just so... I don't know. It's so natural. You don't have warm water in pipes, there's no car noise, no pollution and no electricity." Sango looked utterly confused. "Electricity?" Kagome smiled reassuringly. "Just forget it. It's not important."  
  
They continued to bathe and wash in peace as the sun went lower and lower.  
  
When they were finally done, Sango and Kagome got out of the water and began to get dressed. Sango got finished first and began to gather their belongings as Kagome put on her shirt and began to brush her wet hair.  
  
"You don't have to wait Sango. I'll catch up with you in a sec." Kagome said as she tied her hair up to keep it out of her face. Sango looked like she was going to protest, but when Kagome bent down and picked up the last of her belongings, Sango turned and began to walk towards the camp.  
  
She had only taken a few steps when she felt the aura of a demon and turned around just in time to see it sneak up behind Kagome.  
  
"Kagome duck!" Kagome looked surprised up at Sango, but did what she was told just as the demon lunged for her. Sango was already jumping towards it and kicked it in the stomach when Kagome ducked. She rolled over and got to her feet again as Kagome fell to the ground. She had to get Kagome out of here. Kagome didn't have the training she had, and when she didn't have her bow, she was practically defenceless.  
  
"Kagome run!" Kagome looked confused up at Sango. She had just begun to understand what was happening. Right behind Sango she could see a huge black youkai with eyes glowing green and dangerously. Her eyes fell to the large fangs and the sharp long claws and she barely contained a gasp. She was terrified, but she didn't want to leave Sango here alone to fight it. But on the other hand. If she left, she could get Inuyasha and Miroku here to help her. No. She couldn't leave Sango all alone when she was in danger. No matter what the excuse was.  
  
Sango twisted around and jumped the youkai again, katana out and ready. She understood what Kagome was thinking. It was exactly what she herself would be thinking if she was in Kagome's shoes. It didn't matter tough, she had to get her away. The youkai jumped out of the way from her attack and lunged for Kagome. Sango was stunned. A youkai would never ignore the greater danger in a fight. And obviously, Sango was the greater danger since she had a weapon and since she had attacked. She couldn't understand why the youkai ignored her. That's when it hit her. The youkai wanted something more than to win a fight. It wanted something badly enough to risk that it got killed. It wanted Kagome.  
  
Without another thought she lunged at the demon again, catching it in the midsection and pushing it out of Kagome's path. "I said get out of here!" Kagome still hesitated, but Sango didn't see what happened next. The Youkai landed on top of her and the air was pressed forcefully out of her lounges. As her head hit a rock on the ground, her vision blurred and went black. 'Get out of here...'  
  
Kagome stared in shock as Sango lost consciousness. She didn't have a lot of time to think tough as the demon advanced and began to walk slowly towards her. It didn't look like it was going to attack her, but on the other hand. What did she know about demon behaviour. She crawled backwards along the ground, ignoring the sharp shots of pain from her hands when she cut them on sharp rocks. The youkai, sniffed the air slowly. Testing it. It seemed like he smelled something he liked, because he let out a growl that Kagome would only have called content. Never moving her eyes from the demon she tried to get herself on her feet. She realised that looking it in the eye could be provoking, but she didn't care. She was too scared to care.  
  
When the demon lounged at her and pushed her to the ground she was about to scream, but she couldn't do it because her breath was pushed out. Gasping for air she tried to push it away while kicking frantically with her legs. The demon didn't seem to notice her feeble attempts at escape as it bent down and sniffed the blood on her scraped hands. Again it growled, but this time deep in his throat, as if he was angry about something. Kagome didn't take time to ponder on why she didn't have any troubles understanding what the growls meant, but instead tried to push herself out of its reach.  
  
She shouldn't have done that.  
  
The demon brought his paw down, pressing his claws into her arm, to keep her from moving. At least that was what Kagome thought first, until he also bit down on the paw holding her, making his blood seep down and mingle with the blood pouring out of her own wounds. She gasped as a piercing pain ran through her arm. It was like the pain was inside of her. In her very blood. Seeping through every vein. Burning and freezing her at the same time.  
  
She felt that her focus was slipping. Her head pounded and her eyes began to glaze over with a red haze. Her blood burned. It hurt unbelievably much. She was so lost in the pain that she didn't notice that the youkai shredded her skirt and her underwear with one sweep of his claws. Neither did she notice that he turned her over, making her lie on her stomach.  
  
The fire burned through her. Engulfing her. Devouring her...  
  
A/n: Okay, this is my second 'real' fic. If you liked what you read, check my other story 'Waking Powers'. And please review, I wont continue the story if nobody likes it and I have nothing against flames... as long as I get a response I'm happy 


	2. Change in Scent

Chapter two – Change in Scent  
  
Inuyasha was about to go and look for the two girls when the wind turned and he caught an alien scent with his nose. Youkai. Without a second thought he ran off into the forest, ignoring the cries of the young pup and the startled monk. The scent came from the direction Kagome was. That much he could tell from only his nose. It set his blood on fire. Thinking about Kagome in danger. Speeding up his ears caught the cry from Sango. "Kagome run!" He was still too far away to do anything, but he strained his muscles. Willing them to move faster. Willing himself not to be too late to save her. He could feel the restraint Tetsusaiga held over him, keeping him from turning full youkai. Keeping him from moving faster. He growled in annoyance and as the next plead from Sango reached his ears he threw the sword away. Allowing his blood to take control. His vision went red.  
  
"I said get out of here!" Sango's voice echoed in his ears.  
  
In the meantime, the little kitsune had also caught the strange youkai scent and his heart skipped a beat. So that was why the angry hanyou had run off. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to Kagome. She was like a mother to him. He loved her more than he could put into words. Feeling tears run down his cheeks he cried to the monk that a demon was after Kagome and then he too was off into the forest.  
  
Miroku blinked once before the information registered in his mind. Sango was in danger! He began to run and soon he had caught up with the little kit, he scooped him up in his arms without slowing down...  
  
The sight that met Inuyasha as he reached the lake made his blood burn with impossible anger. Kagome lay face down in the dirt, bloodied and wounded with the youkai hovering over her, ready to thrust and take her virginity. The growl that escaped Inuyasha's throat, made the birds in the nearby trees take to their wings, and it felt as if the ground itself was shaking.  
  
In one giant leap he was on the youkai, cutting with his claws. The sight of the blood flowing made his own sing. It was like music to his ears when the unknown youkai crashed to the ground. Wounded and bleeding from serious wounds. He hadn't wanted to kill him with only one blow. Oh no. This youkai was going to suffer. He would rue the day he tried to take HIS mate.  
  
Landing softly and silently in front of Kagome, he struck a fighting pose. Ready to defend. Ready to attack. Ready to kill. The alien youkai shuddered and tried to get off of the ground. Inuyasha growled. He was going to deal this creature so much pain it would want to die. And then... he was going to grant the wish.  
  
Moving with impossible speed, Inuyasha struck out with his claws, nicking the youkai's shoulder as it barely dodged the attack. The dance had begun.  
  
As Miroku ran with the kitsune in his arm he caught a glimmer from the last rays of the sun to his left. Slowing only a fraction, he realised that it was the Tetsusaiga, reflecting the sunshine. 'Oh no!' Turning abruptly he ignored Shippo's protests and went to get the sword. He dreaded the monster he was going to meet if he didn't bring it. He had to stop the crazy hanyou before he killed Kagome, or even worse. Sango.  
  
As the youkai crashed to the ground with a last whimper from its throat, Inuyasha growled disappointed. He had wanted it to last longer. The youkai hadn't suffered enough for what he had done. He wanted someone to suffer. Looking around his eyes landed on another female. This one wasn't his mate. He was about to lounge at her when something inside him stopped him. He sniffed the air and caught her scent. Managing to find it amongst the thick scent of blood and the scent of his mate in heat. She smelled familiar and his own scent was surrounding her. Not in the way it would've done if she was his mate, but in the way it would if she spent a lot of time in his company. Cursing to himself he realised that she was a part of his pack. He couldn't kill her unless she had done anything to displease him. And she had done the exact opposite. He could still remember her voice, urging his mate to get away from the danger. This pack member had tried to protect his mate.  
  
Turning to his wounded mate, he decided to let the matter go. She was wounded and needed his help more than he needed to hurt someone. He bent down and the scent of her heat caught in his nose, making his head swim. She was still a virgin. He could smell it. All his instincts told him to take her right there and mark her as his, but again something within him stopped him.  
  
She was shaking and sweating. Oblivious to the world around her. He had to wait until she had healed. It was frustrating him to no end, but he didn't want to hurt her more. Bending down again, he began to lick the wounds on her arm and on her hands. Content in the meantime to taste her sweet blood. Besides, his spit would help her heal quicker...  
  
Miroku stopped dead in his tracks as he reached the clearing where the lake was. What he saw made his blood run cold.  
  
Black blood was covering the entire ground. Some of it was even on the trees. To his right he could see Sango lying unmoving on the ground and to his left he could see Inuyasha in his youkai from, bending over Kagome and licking her. His fist instinct was to run over to Sango and check that she was alright, but he knew that the immediate danger lay with the youkai Inuyasha. The dead corpse of the other youkai was no threat at all. 'Man, I'm happy I've never really pissed Inuyasha off', was the first thought that crossed his mind when he saw the mutilated youkai. Shaking his head he realised that the young kitsune hadn't made a noise since they entered the clearing.  
  
"Shippo are you okay?" He whispered, trying to speak low enough so that Inuyasha wouldn't hear him. It wasn't low enough. Inuyasha jerked his head up and glared at Miroku, making a low threatening sound reverberate from his throat. With those red eyes glued to him, Miroku wanted nothing more than to run. He must've moved a leg because the growl came again. "He's telling you not to move," the terrified kitsune mumbled. He was clutching Miroku's robes tightly. Trying to keep back his tears. Miroku nodded before whispering back. "I figured as much. I have to give him his sword before he kills everyone." Shippo only nodded weakly. "Just don't go any closer. He's trying to protect Kagome." The monk arched his eyebrow at the statement. "How do you know?" Shippo shrugged like it was obvious. "His posture, the way he growled, his scent. Everything about him says; stay away and you'll be fine. If he considered us enemies, he would've attacked long ago. And if he doesn't consider us enemies that means that he considers us part of his pack." Shippo shrugged. "He's in his youkai form. He's acting on pure instinct..." Miroku shook his head in wonder. He would never have thought that Inuyasha was capable of protective feelings in his youkai form. If he considered them part of his pack 'now', then he must really care for them in his hanyou form.  
  
"We still have to give him his sword back. I'm not sure how long I trust him to see us as part of his pack if we stay around when he wants to protect Kagome." Shippo nodded again, a bit calmer since he reacted on Inuyasha's posture and scent. "Make him want to get the sword. That's the only way. If you throw it to him, he'll attack." Miroku gulped. Make him want to get the sword? Like that would be easy when all Inuyasha cared for at the moment was to protect Kagome.  
  
'Protect Kagome? Wait, that's it!' "Inuyasha?" Miroku spoke slowly and calmly to make the crazy hanyou understand that he didn't threaten him. Inuyasha growled low and Miroku took it as a sign to continue. "If you want to protect Kagome, you can do it better with this sword."  
  
He held up the sword and instantly regretted it as the growling rose in volume. "Eh... I mean. It was your father's, it has his strength embedded in it. You'll be stronger with it. Better able to protect her... and... and the pack."  
  
When Inuyasha rose slowly from his position by Kagome, Miroku was about to make a run for it, but the insistent claws from Shippo made him stand still. He was sure that he was about to die.  
  
Inuyasha could smell the reek of fear surrounding the two members of his pack. He could understand that they were afraid of him and it didn't really bother him. It showed that they respected him and that they weren't about to challenge him. Looking at the sword the human was holding up, he began to rise from the spot in front of his mate. He was really reluctant to leave her, but on the other hand, he could smell the power emanating from the sword. With that power he would be invincible.  
  
As his hands curled around the sword he could feel that his anger was ebbing away. He didn't really understand what the sword was doing until it was too late.  
  
When Miroku saw that the red in Inuyasha's eyes began to reside, he was so relieved that he nearly lost his feet. It didn't take long tough before he remembered Sango and rushed over to her. The kit still hanging on to his robes.  
  
With the thick smell of blood surrounding the area, Inuyasha was half expecting to be attacked, so he was really happy that he already had the Tetsusaiga in his hand. When he turned around tough, all thoughts of an attack were wiped from his mind. Kagome was lying half naked and bloodied on the ground in front of him. He was calmed a bit by the fact that her scent didn't signalise that she had been mated to. He would've killed himself if he had done anything like that to her without her permission.  
  
His blood began to boil with anger again when he realised what had happened. He had thrown the sword away... that was a really chilling thought, but it didn't make up for the anger he was feeling towards the dead youkai lying in the grass some feet away. 'Well at least it has paid for what it did to Kagome.'  
  
Taking off his haori he draped it over Kagome to cover her up. He noticed that she was sweating and shaking, and she didn't react to anything he said to her. His heartbeat increased with worry. She didn't have serious enough wounds to make her behave the way she did, so something else was definitely happening to her. He had to get her back to Kaede. Fast. But it was one day of walking to her village. Sighing he turned and saw Miroku bending over Sango. She was beginning to regain her consciousness again and Inuyasha felt a twinge of guilt. He couldn't remember if he was the reason that she got hurt. He was about to call over to them when a brown fur ball crashed into him. He looked down and saw the little kitsune pup fighting to get past him to Kagome. Grabbing Shippo's tail he lifted the kit up to his face and growled at him. "If you dare to bother Kagome now, I promise you'll regret it." Tears running down his cheeks, Shippo gulped and nodded that he wouldn't bother Kagome.  
  
Certain that Kagome would be left alone he talked to Miroku.  
  
"Hey, monk! We have to get Kagome to Kaede. Something's wrong with her and I'm not talking about the fact that she almost got raped." Miroku raised his head and looked over at Inuyasha as he helped Sango up on her feet, cautioning her to take it easy. Sango didn't seem to hear him, as she pushed him away and ran over to Kagome. Staring down on the shaking form covered with Inuyasha's red haori.  
  
"I told her to get away." She whispered. "I told her to get away. Why didn't she listen to me?"  
  
Miroku came over too and draped his arms around Sango's shoulders, knowing that this wasn't the time to grope her. "Calm down Sango, it wasn't your fault. You did what you could. Besides, Inuyasha is right for once. We have to get her to Kaede." Sango only nodded numbly as she leaned into Miroku's embrace, letting the throbbing headache engulf her and lead her back to sleep.  
  
They had been walking the entire night when Inuyasha began to see the faint lights from the village in front of them. He was carrying Kagome in his arms, trying very hard to ignore the smell coming from her and at the same time, focusing on it. Something wasn't right with the way she smelled. When they had been back at the clearing with the lake he had noticed it too, but then he hadn't been sure about what he smelt because of the thick reek of blood. Besides, he had also reasoned that her being in heat was changing her smell. Now he wasn't so sure that that was the reason for her change in smell.  
  
Kagome had been shaking and sweating through the entire night and in the meantime her scent had changed slowly, but nonetheless surely. He wasn't sure about what the change in smell meant, and he couldn't catch up on exactly what the difference was. Turning to the little kitsune walking besides him with his head lowered he finally decided that it was time to ask if the kit could smell it too.  
  
"Shippo." The kitsune raised his head startled at the fact that Inuyasha had used his name. "Do you... do you smell something different about Kagome?" Behind him, Inuyasha could feel Miroku's eyes fixing on his back. Miroku had been carrying and supporting Sango through the night. Never complaining about the added burden, and now he was carrying a sleeping Sango again, careful not to move her too much as they walked.  
  
Shippo stared at Inuyasha a second before he nodded slowly. "Yes, she has been smelling different all week, but I didn't care, because she always smells different at this time of the month." Inuyasha didn't need to look at Miroku to know that the monk was smiling his lecherous smile. For once he ignored it and glared at the kit as a small blush crept across his face. "Forget about that you runt. I'm talking about the fact that her smell has changed since she was attacked." Shippo blinked and sniffed the air, focusing on Kagome's scent with all his attention. When his eyes went large and round he stared surprised at Kagome. "She... she smells. She smells more like a youkai or a hanyou then a human."  
  
Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks. Staring in disbelief down at the kitsune. Drawing a deep breath of Kagome's scent for the first time he realised that the little runt was right. Miroku caught up with them and stared down at Shippo. "What did you say?" He asked, barely concealing his surprise. Shippo looked more excited than worried about what he had said, and somehow Inuyasha couldn't find a reason for the reaction to be wrong. "Her scent has changed during the entire night." Inuyasha explained for Shippo. He looked down at the girl in his arms. "She's smelling nearly like a hanyou now... and it's still changing." Miroku's face went white. "We have to get her to Kaede fast; I just hope that it's not too late." Inuyasha glared at the monk as he began to walk again. "Miroku. What's happening to her?" The monk ignored him and continued to walk. Completely lost in his own thoughts.  
  
A/n: Inuyasha to the rescue! Woohoo!!! You like? You review And again I'll mention my other fic 'Waking Powers'. Thanks for all the reviews. 


	3. Enchanted Senses

Chapter three – Enchanted Senses  
  
When the tired and battered group finally reached the village, they went straight to Kaede's hut. The old miko was already awake, making breakfast and stirring the pot. When the group walked in the door she quickly dropped what she was doing and hurried over to the unconscious girl in the hanyou's arms. Sango was awake again and Miroku helped her over to the wall, where she could rest against it.  
  
"What has happened here?" The old miko asked as she beaconed for Inuyasha to lay Kagome down on a clean futon. Miroku glanced over to the hanyou and decided from his expression that he should keep his mouth shut. Seeing that Miroku wouldn't interfere, Inuyasha turned to Kaede.  
  
"Sango and Kagome were attacked by a youkai while they were bathing." He said simply. Miroku was amazed at how the hanyou made it sound so simple. Kaede didn't seem to buy it tough. She glanced suspiciously at the hanyou while she checked the wounds covering Kagome's hands. When she came to the cuts on her arm she abruptly stopped and tuned to glare at him instead. "What are you not telling me?" She asked in a tight voice. Signalling that she wasn't in the mood for half-truths or jokes. Inuyasha gulped and backed away at her expression. He didn't know how or what to answer her. "Wh... what do you mean?" he finally managed. Kaede sighed in irritation and tried to calm down.  
  
"Why weren't you with her? You're always nearby. No matter what she's doing. Watching her bathe is certainly not something that's stopped you before." Miroku could barely keep quiet at the blush that began to cover the hanyou's face. Luckily Shippo interfered and stopped both the hanyou and the monk from saying something they would regret.  
  
"Kagome... Kagome told me to stay behind and keep them from following her and Sango. I asked her why, but she didn't answer me." Kaede glanced down at the distressed kitsune and dismissed him. "So, they went to bathe, and you stayed behind. What happened after that?"  
  
Inuyasha kept his head lowered when he answered. "I caught the scent of a youkai and followed it." He mumbled. "And?" The miko urged. "... I don't remember." Inuyasha finally said, even lower then before. He could clearly feel the piercing gaze from the old miko, searching his soul. It was uncomfortable. He felt naked and vulnerable. And the stretching silence didn't help one bit. Wasn't she supposed to help Kagome? She was the one wounded and in need of healing. Finally the old miko said something.  
  
"You don't remember?" "No!" Inuyasha exploded. "I don't remember anything after I ran, following the scent. When I came to myself I was in the clearing by the lake and the youkai was dead and Kagome was like this." He pointed at the shaking girl.  
  
Miroku decided that he should interfere before the hanyou did something he would regret. "He... he threw away the sword and turned into his youkai form. Shippo and I ran after him when Shippo informed me on the situation. When we arrived at the lake, Sango and Kagome were unconscious and the youkai was killed. Inuyasha was... he was still in his youkai form and he was..." Miroku stopped and glanced once at the kitsune before he continued. "Inuyasha was protecting Kagome. He wouldn't allow us to come closer so I talked him into accepting Tetsusaiga... When he did, he turned back to his hanyou form again."  
  
There was no sound in the hut and Miroku glanced anxiously at the hanyou. Inuyasha seemed to be in a state of shock, and so did Sango. Kaede only looked mildly surprised and Shippo was too worried about his foster mother to care about anyone else.  
  
After another second Kaede broke the silence again. "So, does anyone have any idea as to why the youkai attacked?" When she was met with blank expressions from all the boys, she turned to look at Sango. Sango was beginning to feel better after sleeping nearly the entire night and shook her head slowly, trying to clear it. She stopped immediately when sharp pain shot through her. "Um, I'm not entirely sure." She began softly. "The whole encounter was pretty weird. The youkai didn't defend itself the way it should when I attacked it. It was only an accident that led to me being knocked out. It seemed as if the only thing the youkai was interested in was Kagome." She stopped and looked curiously up at Inuyasha. Finally the hanyou couldn't take the silent stares anymore so he offered the answer they were waiting for. Trying very hard to keep a blush from entering his face. "She's in heat." He simply said. Kaede nodded as if she had known all along. "I figured as much with the way you've behaved around her this week." Sango continued. Nothing on earth could keep the blush from his face now. "Keh! I don't know what you are talking about." Sango ignored him and continued.  
  
"When I was knocked unconscious the youkai was walking towards Kagome. I don't know what happened after that until the houshi woke me up. Please Kaede-sama. What is wrong with her?" She indicated the black-haired girl.  
  
Kaede sighed before she continued. "Do any of you remember what the youkai looked like?"  
  
When Kagome opened her eyes she was surprised to find out that she was indoors. The last thing she remembered was a piercing pain and two glowing green eyes, glaring down on her. She jerked upright, making her sit up straight on the futon she had been sleeping on. Looking around again, she realised that she was in Kaede's hut. The vision of the alien youkai over her had her heart pounding wildly in her chest. She looked down at her hands and noticed that the cuts on her palms had healed over and not a trace remained. The cuts from the youkai's claws however were red and swollen. The pain she remembered was gone, and only a dim throbbing from the cuts on her arm remained.  
  
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked around again. She was alone in the room, but she could feel that there had been someone there recently. Someone that smelled of herbs and... some kind of spicy power. 'Wait! Smell?' Where did that thought come from? She sniffed the air and to her surprise she was able to smell her surroundings. And now that she thought about it, she was able to hear heartbeats in the next room too. 'What's happening to me?'  
  
Rising from the futon, she made her way over to the drape that covered the opening into the next room. She strained her ears and indeed. She did hear slow breathing and slow heartbeats in there. From the steady rhythm, she guessed that they were asleep. Sniffing the air again, she caught several different scents. The first one was the same that she had smelled in her own room. The smell of herbs and power. The next was a distinct smell of the forest mixed with what she could only call human and a... youkai scent? Another one smelled of fresh fruit. And the next smelt of fresh earth and grass, again mixed with the youkai scent. The last was the smell of autumn. It was fresh and clean, as if it was the clear morning after a storm.  
  
Backing quietly away from the door, she leaned against the wall. It felt like her nose was on fire. She was assaulted by so many different smells that it was difficult for her to decipher the information. And as if that wasn't enough, she could begin to hear sounds that came from the surrounding forest and the nearby huts. It was confusing for her and she was in a desperate need to get away from everything.  
  
Looking down at her palms again she noticed the abnormally long nails for the first time. She turned her hands around and inspected them. She had seen something similar on another person. When she remembered who, she gasped and brought a hand up to cover her mouth.  
  
The discoveries just seemed to go on end on. Her fingers grazed over her teeth and she realised that she didn't only have claws, but fangs too. 'What did that youkai do to me?' She wondered as she began to move towards the door again.  
  
Glancing in to check that they were indeed asleep, she moved soundlessly over the floor and exited the hut. The air met her clean and crisp and she could see the sun beginning to rise over the treetops. She must've been unconscious at least twenty-four hours since she was back at Kaede's village and the dawn was breaking. Growling under her breath she silently cursed the youkai that had attacked her, not realising that the low sound was registered by two white dog-ears.  
  
She could smell a faint scent of blood covering her and decided to go to the nearby hot spring to take a bath. They had probably washed her since she couldn't see any blood, but the smell still annoyed her sensitive nose. Walking quietly out of the village and into the woods she made her way towards the familiar hot spring.  
  
Inuyasha's ears swirled around to catch the faint sound of a growl outside the hut. He quickly opened his eyes and looked around the room. After Kaede had told them what was happening to Kagome, they had been too tired to stay awake any longer and confident that Kagome wasn't in any immediate danger they fell asleep.  
  
Inuyasha had been both excited and worried at what was happening to Kagome. Excited because of what it could lead to, and worried at how Kagome would react.  
  
Shaking his head to clear it from the clouded veils of sleep he rose up quietly and made his way over to the drape hiding Kagome from curious eyes. When he peeked inside and saw that she wasn't there he was about to panic, but then he remembered the low noise that had woken him. Not wasting time on another thought he went outside the hut and began to follow Kagome's new scent into the forest. She still smelled of the familiar scent of flowers, honey and miko powers, but now there was an additional smell of youkai blood mixed in.  
  
Kagome walked slowly towards the water's edge. She was curious and at the same time afraid at what she would see. 'Quit nagging yourself Kagome. Just get it over with.' She scolded herself as she bent over the waters edge.  
  
She gasped softly at the reflection that met her. Her eyes were still brown, but they were streaked with golden rays, making it seem like sunrays piercing through her gaze. Bending lower to the water she examined her teeth, running a finger lightly over the two fags. Her ears had changed too. They now resembled the ears that she had noticed that Sesshoumaru had. Somehow it didn't look out of place on her appearance. Sighing she took off the miko clothes someone had dressed her in and waded out in the warm water. Letting her hair loose she noticed that that had changed too. It was longer and if possible it seemed blacker. Studying herself carefully in her reflection she went deeper into the water. She wasn't really sure what to think about how her appearance had changed. She didn't really feel different, as long as she counted out her hearing and her sense of smell. She guessed that there were other things too that had changed, but she had to figure them out later. Sighing, she ducked under the water and began to wash her hair and her skin, trying to get the smell of blood out.  
  
A/n: Thanks for all the reviews, you inspire me to continue the story. 


	4. I'm Still Me

Chapter four – I'm Still Me  
  
Inuyasha stopped by the edge of the clearing and looked at Kagome's lithe form in the water. He was immensely happy that she had come out of heat while she was unconscious, if she hadn't it wouldn't have been possible for him to control himself now. She was so beautiful, and the way the water played over her naked body made his pulse quicken.  
  
"Osuwari!"  
  
He hit the ground before the word registered in his brain. "What the!?" Pushing his face off the ground he managed to catch a glimpse of a very angry miko girl before he slammed into the ground again at her next 'sit' command. The pricking scent of her anger reached his sensitive nose and he mentally berated himself. Her sense of smell was probably as sensitive as his at the moment. How could he have been so stupid to forget? It would be no problem for her to smell him if the wind went the right way.  
  
"Keep your eyes closed and turn around." Kagome's angry voice commanded. "I can't believe you would peek on me. You're obviously spending too much time in company with that hentai monk." She continued.  
  
"Keh! I'm nothing like Miroku. Besides you're the one who took your clothes off in the first place." He protested as he turned around and kept his eyes closed.  
  
"You've already used that excuse once before Inuyasha. I won't hear it." Kagome pulled her clothes on and glared at the hanyou in front of her. She had smelled him and heard him come to the clearing. It still confused her to no end, but she was beginning to see some positive sides with her new and improved senses.  
  
"You can turn now." She said as she tied the last string on her clothes. She didn't feel comfortable in this outfit, and she was very worried on how he would react to her changes. Would he hate her? 'Oh please don't hate me?' It occurred to her that that was probably the way Inuyasha thought. He would never say it out loud, but Kagome knew that he was afraid of not being accepted. Understanding him in a more intimate way she let her anger cool and sat down in front of him, so that they were facing each other.  
  
Turning around, Inuyasha opened his eyes and looked at Kagome... his mouth fell open in shock. She was stunning. He hadn't been able to see her up close when she was in the hot spring, but what he saw now really made his breath come short. Her brown eyes were streaked with gold and her skin had become, if even possible more perfect. It seemed softer, smoother. He was about to reach out and touch her when...  
  
"Don't stare like that Inuyasha! Tell me what's happening to me" At Kagome's angry voice, Inuyasha managed to snap back to reality. She smelled of both worry and anger now and he realised that she had no clue about why this had happened to her. Drawing his breath slowly he began to explain...  
  
Flashback  
  
Kaede sighed before she continued. "Do any of you remember what the youkai looked like?"  
  
When Inuyasha realised that everyone was turning to him from answers he felt his anger rise again. "Why're you all looking at me? How am I supposed to remember anything? I was in my bloody youkai form, remember?" Kaede nodded. "Yes of course you were, but do you remember how it looked like afterwards, when you had accepted the sword?" Inuyasha glared angrily at the old miko. "Yes. I remember perfectly well how it looked like after I killed it. It's a memory I'll treasure the rest of my life. The youkai was beaten into a bloody pulp. I just regret that I didn't hurt it more while it was alive."  
  
At the wicked grin covering the hanyou's face, Kaede realised that she wouldn't get any useful information from the stubborn whelp. Sighing she turned to the other person conscious, that had the opportunity to see the youkai before it was mutilated and killed. "Sango. What do you remember of how the youkai looked like?" Sango thought for a second before she answered. "Well, it had black fur and green glowing eyes. What was strange tough about its appearance was that I couldn't decide if it was a dog, a wolf, or a panther. It didn't move in a specific way that would signalise that it was either. It was all blended in a way. It's difficult to explain. One moment he charged as Inuyasha would've done it. The next it relied on speed, like Kouga does. When it bent over Kagome... it was acting like a leopard, elegant and confident. And through it all it moved with the panther's grace. I don't know what else to say. I've never seen a youkai looking or acting like that before..."  
  
Miroku was staring out in the air, deep in thought when Kaede broke in. "Miroku, do you have something to add? A theory perhaps?" With every eye focused on Miroku, he realised he had to give voice to his suspicions.  
  
"There is something that I think is important to add." Indicating Kagome's hands he continued in a lecturing voice. "Kagome didn't suffer serious wounds from the youkai. As far as I can tell the scrapes on her hands are from sharp rocks." Kaede nodded to show that she agreed with him. "In fact, the only wounds from the youkai are these small cuts. I'm guessing it's from the youkai's claws. Now, these wounds, although caused by the youkai shouldn't cause the reaction we see on Kagome now. Unless he's inflicted poison in them. And I don't think that is the cause because you would be making an antidote then." He addressed Kaede directly now. "If it wasn't poison I think it must be some other body fluid that caused it."  
  
Inuyasha growled from his position. "He didn't mate with her. I would've been able to smell it." Miroku nodded to show his agreement. "Indeed you would Inuyasha, but think back to the conversation you had with Shippo earlier. About her change in smell." Inuyasha's eyes went wide at the realisation.  
  
"He has mixed his blood with hers." The anger that had been burning slowly and steadily in him, flared with new ferocity. "I'd kill that fucking bastard if he wasn't already dead!"  
  
Slamming his hand through the floor he made the others in the room jump at his outburst.  
  
"Calm yourself Inuyasha." Kaede hissed. "This is affecting Kagome more than it affects you. You can just hope that she won't hate what she's turning into." His anger cooled... a bit. "Turning into?" He finally asked. Kaede nodded again. "If I have understood Miroku correctly, and I think I have. Then the youkai that attacked Kagome was a blood-changer. It's a rare sort of youkai that has the ability to turn another being into that beings youkai form. Not only that, but it can take blood from other youkai's and mix it with his own. Making him be the subject of change. Improving himself to the better. That's why Sango couldn't figure out what kind of youkai it was. It was partly dog, wolf, and panther." Miroku nodded to show that he agreed with Kaede. "The other thing about blood-changing youkai is that they refuse to mate unless their mate's blood contains at least a drop of the youkai's own blood. Literally."  
  
"You mean to say that Kagome's turning into a youkai." Inuyasha asked after a moment of silence. "Possibly." Kaede answered. "What is your nose telling you?"  
  
He sniffed the air once and arched an eyebrow. "She smells like a hanyou at the moment." He stated.  
  
Kaede lifted Kagome's wounded arm and closed her eyes for a second before she opened them again. "I think there's a good chance that the transformation will stop in her hanyou form. The reason that she's shaking is that she's fighting the alien blood. It seems that not only her soul is stubborn, but her blood too." When she let go of the arm, Kaede smiled. "There's not much we can do for her. I'll wash her in the next room and then I'll let her sleep. Rest in peace, knowing that her life isn't in danger. Inuyasha, will you help me carry her into the next room?"  
  
Inuyasha nodded as he rose to his feet, Kagome in his arms. Was it his imagination or had Kagome's hair turned darker. He shrugged of the thought and followed the old miko, leaving the remaining of the group to fall to sleep.  
  
End Flashback  
  
"Well?" Inuyasha asked after a long and discomforting silence from Kagome. "Well what?" She asked, barely able to contain her irritation and anger. It didn't matter, he could smell it. "Aren't you going to say anything?" He asked, equally irritated and not bothering to try and hide it. "What's there to say?" She asked silently as she rose and began to walk back to the village. Inuyasha stared fumingly at her retreating back. Then a thought struck him and he couldn't help but to feel worried.  
  
"You hate it don't you?" She stopped and turned around, a look of utter bewilderment on her face. "What?" She stuttered.  
  
"The changes." He waved his arm up and down, indicating her body. "You hate that you've been turned into a hanyou." He continued. The thought stung. He didn't want her to be unhappy. But who could blame her? He himself couldn't stand being a worthless half-breed. He was on the brink of running into the forest when she finally talked.  
  
"No. I don't hate it." She said softly, so quiet that even his sensitive ears had problems picking it up. Now he was the one staring bewildered at her. Kagome's face softened as she began to explain.  
  
"Inuyasha. Why would I hate it? If you mean to indicate that I'm angry at the youkai that bit me, then you are right. I am angry. It had no right whatsoever to bite me and mix his blood with mine, but still that doesn't mean that I hate what his blood has turned me into. My physical features and my abilities might have changed, I could even go as far to say that they have improved, but I'm still me. How could I ever hate myself for something that I wasn't the cause for? I'm still me. That's really the thing that I fear most. If I, what makes me 'me' would be changed against my own will. No Inuyasha. I don't hate being a hanyou."  
  
The way she looked at him, with those new piercing eyes of hers, made his heartbeat quicken. And somehow he got the feeling that she pitied him. The feelings that would normally have emerged at that realisation were quelled by one simple fact.  
  
She didn't hate being a hanyou.  
  
Sighing and hiding his thoughts and his feelings he began to make his way back to the village. "We should return to the village Kagome. If anybody has awakened they might be worrying." He didn't turn around to check that she followed. The soft sound of her footsteps confirmed that she did.  
  
Kagome silently walked after Inuyasha back to the village. She didn't really think that she had come to terms with what had happened yet. It was as if her feelings told her that it really had happened, but her brain was still striving to catch up.  
  
She felt numb...  
  
Sensing from Kagome's silence that something wasn't right, Inuyasha turned around when they reached the outskirts of the village.  
  
"Hey, are you alright?" He looked at her with a concerned expression. She nodded weakly while avoiding his gaze. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that this happened really sudden." She finally met his eyes and if the salty tinge to the air didn't tell him anything, the tears brimming in her eyes certainly did. "Hey don't cry!" He hated it when she cried. "There's no reason to cry." He continued.  
  
She looked at him as if he didn't have a clue about anything. "Inuyasha", she began, proud about the fact that her voice didn't shake. "When I... when I told you that I wanted to be with you, to... to help you search for the shards, I knew it would be dangerous. I was prepared to risk my life with you. I still am, but..." She stopped and looked at him pleadingly, and then she lowered her gaze.  
  
He kept silent, waiting for her to continue. Something was obviously bothering her and with everything that had happened to her lately, he wasn't about to brush it off as nothing.  
  
When she still didn't continue, he took a step closer to her and lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. Using his thumb, he wiped away a tear that escaped her eye. "What is it Kagome? Tell me. Please."  
  
She couldn't believe he had just done that. He rarely showed his soft and considering side unless it was the new moon. Still, it comforted her and she felt calmer. When she continued, she held his gaze, hoping to see more of his hidden feelings for her.  
  
"I... I'm prepared to risk my life and get killed for this quest." She rushed on when she saw that he was about to protest. "But... what happened by that lake..." She stopped again, unsure of how to continue.  
  
She might as well get it out.  
  
"Inuyasha, I nearly got raped! I... I nearly..."  
  
When she had said it, her brain really registered the fact for the first time and saw it as true. Her barriers broke and she began to sob. She could feel Inuyasha circle his arms around her in a protective manner and she knew that if he let go of her, she would fall, being unable to stand on her own.  
  
"Shh..." He comforted, stroking her hair softly with his claws. "It's alright now Kagome. It didn't happen. He's dead now Kagome..." Ha hated to see her like this, but he was proud that he was the one giving her the support she needed. Her wrecking sob rung loud in his ears and at the moment, he was willing to do anything to make everything alright again. Somehow, he knew that the incident had changed Kagome and not only because of the youkai blood she now had. No, something else had changed too.  
  
Something was broken.  
  
He wanted to do anything to fix it again. Pulling her closer to his body, he whispered reassurances to her, wanting her to know them for truth. "I'll always be there for you Kagome. I'll always be there to protect you. Don't ever doubt that... "  
  
A/n: o.O People sure like this story... Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I figured you all want some fluff, so Inuyasha's and Kagome's relationship is speeding up...I hope you don't mind, but it seemed to fit with how I plan the story. Enjoy! 


	5. Support and Strenght

Chapter five – Support and Strength  
  
-()-()-  
  
Sango looked up from the task of making breakfast when a shadow fell over the doorway.  
  
She had awakened to find Kagome gone from her room, but since Inuyasha had been missing too, she hadn't worried about it, figuring that he would be the best candidate to tell her what had happened.  
  
After standing in the doorway for a few seconds, the figure in the door moved aside to let a lower person enter. Sango felt her breath catch in her throat when her eyes focused on the newcomer. She had been aware that there would be changes, but still...  
  
Kagome looked stunning. She had no other words to describe her and no other was needed. Rising from her place on the floor, she made her way over to her near sister and looked her over with a concerned expression. She could see that she'd recently cried because her eyes were red rimmed, but still. It did nothing to diminish her beauty. Opening her arms in an inviting manner, Sango walked closer to Kagome and embraced her. "Are you alright?" She asked when she felt her return the hug.  
  
Kagome nodded against Sango's shoulder and forced her voice to sound light and easygoing. "Yeah, it's just that I've got so much to get used to at once. How about you? Did you get hurt?" Sango pushed away from the hug to look her in the eyes.  
  
"I'm fine Kagome, just a little bump on the head. It's nothing."  
  
Kagome nodded again and felt her eyes watering. "I'm so sorry. I should've left. I should've listened to you. I'm such a jerk." She felt responsible for what had happened to Sango. After all, if she had left then Sango wouldn't have had to worry about her safety too. She would've been able to focus all her attention on the fight.  
  
Sango dismissed her concern and drew her in for a new hug. "It's fine Kagome. It wasn't your fault." Looking up from the hug, Sango spotted Inuyasha again. He was still standing by the entrance, looking a little uncomfortable with the whole situation.  
  
She smiled at him and gestured for the breakfast when she broke the hug again. "Does anybody of you want something to eat?"  
  
When both of them nodded, she turned to the food and finished the preparations. "Here you go." She said, as she handed both of them a plate to eat on. They accepted and sat down to eat. Finding a plate for herself she sat down to join them and pretty soon Miroku woke up too.  
  
-()-  
  
Listening to the voices in the room, Miroku finally decided to stop his meditation. He opened his eyes slowly to get used to the light in the room. Suddenly he realised that Kagome's voice was amongst the ones speaking and he quickly turned his gaze towards her.  
  
The sight of her struck him like a vision. He had always admired Kagome's beauty, but now her beauty was so much more. Her posture and behaving, everything about her spoke of more grace, authority and power then she had had before. He had to admit that he envied the hanyou that had, without knowing, captured her heart.  
  
"Ah, Lady Kagome. I see that you have recovered from your ordeal." He began as he found a plate and scooped up some of the food. "I must say, your beauty is more stunning than it ever was before. I would be honoured if you would bear..."  
  
'THWACK!'  
  
Sango put Hiraikotsu down on the floor again and continued the conversation as if they hadn't been interrupted, but she was relieved to see a small smile appear on her friends face from the monk's antics.  
  
Shippo was surprisingly the last one to wake up and the first thing he did was take one look at Kagome, grin and jump into her arms, proclaiming that he liked her new look and smell.  
  
-()-  
  
Kagome sat cross-legged under the God Tree some days later. They had decided to stay in the village for a time before going out to look for shards again. Surprisingly it was Inuyasha that had first proclaimed the idea. The others in the group hadn't protested tough. Miroku and Kaede, at least seemed to think that it would be good for Kagome to get used to the changes in her life before they got into a new fight with demons. Besides, Kagome had figured out that Sango had suffered a slight concussion during the attack, so resting would be good for her too.  
  
Sighing in content, Kagome leaned against the trunk of the tree and tried to relax. She had noticed that Inuyasha had been acting different around her lately, but not in a bad way. He seemed to be more comfortable around her now and he had an easier time of showing his affections when no one else were around. She smiled to herself and admitted that she really liked it.  
  
Inuyasha had also tried to teach her some forms of fighting, but she hadn't been really good at it. Finally he had given up, telling her with only the slightest hint of an insult that youkai often fought on instinct. Therefore it wasn't that surprising that she didn't have any skills and had problems achieving them.  
  
For one thing, youkai often fought against their siblings from the moment they were born. They developed real fighting skills from real fights. Practice fights just weren't the same. When you knew that your life wasn't on the line, you just couldn't fight well. Secondly, since Kagome had such a good heart, he claimed that her subconscious just didn't want to fight unless it was really, really necessary.  
  
She was still stunned. He had actually complimented her, saying that she was too good-hearted to fight.  
  
She thought that he was partly right about his assumptions. For one thing, it wasn't in her nature to hurt anybody and when she was practicing fighting with him... well, lets just say that for her, hurting him and cutting him up with her claws really wasn't an option. She did believe though that she would be capable of fighting if it came to the worst, if it was a life and death situation. After all, even if she loathed hurting any creature, she still shot youkai with her purifying arrows if the situation was too hard for Inuyasha and the others to handle alone.  
  
Looking down on her claws, she flexed them. In the beginning, they had been a real pain in the ass along with her fangs. She kept forgetting that they were sharp and capable of cutting through wood and even stone if enough force was applied to the blow. It had resulted in many scratches covering her skin. And her fangs... she didn't even want to begin contemplating that subject. It was enough to say that she had bit her tongue too many times to count.  
  
Instead of laughing at her clumsiness, Inuyasha had tried to make her look at the bright side of it; at least her capability of healing became better.  
  
He claimed that the healing that was in the youkai blood only got better with 'practice'. That meant that each time she got hurt and began to bleed, her healing got better and faster. The worse the injury, the more her healing was forced to improve. That also went for her capability of withstanding pain.  
  
She had to admit that he was right. Her cuts and scratches did heal faster and she nearly didn't even feel it now when she bit her tongue. The only thing that didn't heal tough, were the scars from the youkai that attacked her. The claw-marks were still red and decorated her arm in a fashion that was very similar to Sesshoumaru's stripes on his cheeks and hands.  
  
-()-  
  
Inuyasha watched Kagome for a long time before he finally walked over to her.  
  
Her way of behaving had changed a lot during the last couple of day, even if she hadn't noticed it herself. He had to admit that he admired the 'new' Kagome. She was more secure of herself and her temper didn't flare easily anymore. In fact, he hadn't been 'sat' once, since he walked in on her during her bath.  
  
Somehow, he too felt different now. At least when he was around her. She had always been able to calm his spirit without trying, but now that she herself was a hanyou, or as close to it as a human-born could become, the invisible bond between them had only improved. The feelings they had shared before her transformation had somehow become stronger.  
  
Kagome looked up at him when he stopped in front of her and gave him one of her rare, special, dazzling smiles. He smiled back at her and sat down by her side, leaning against the tree.  
  
"How are you feeling?" He asked carefully. Even if her anger had calmed during the last couple of days, her other feelings were as a contrast extremely sensitive. He really couldn't blame her. After all, even if she hadn't been raped, she had still been violated in one of the worst ways possible.  
  
Kagome leaned closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He really liked it when she did that and he growled a low content response to her actions. She only smiled again and looked up at the leaves in the tree.  
  
"I'm better. I guess I'm finally overcoming the shock of what has happened" She could feel that he nodded against her and her smile widened. She was very grateful for all the support he had given her and she knew deep inside of her that without him, she wouldn't have made it. It had occurred to her just how weak she was after her first breakdown when he had comforted her. She wasn't weak only in body, but in her mind too.  
  
Some of the naivety she had had before was lost and she knew that it would never return. The attack had weakened her and at the same time made her stronger. She was now more aware of the many dangers in her life, but she was also better prepared to deal with them.  
  
She didn't dare to think about how she could've become if it wasn't for Inuyasha. At the crucial moment when her innocent view of men had been crushed and changed, she could very easily have begun to hate them, but then Inuyasha had been there. He had been there to comfort and hold her. He had been there to support her and listen to her. He had saved her. Not only from the would-be rapist, but also from a hateful view on men.  
  
She had loved him even more for that.  
  
"Do you want to begin searching for shards again?" She suddenly asked.  
  
Inuyasha looked over at her and studied her closely. Her gold-streaked gaze bore into his golden. "If you are sure that you are up to it. I don't want you to push yourself." He finally said. She only smiled back at him and waved her hand dismissively.  
  
"I'm okay really. Besides, when you have fallen of the horse once, it's important to get back up again soon." Now why was she suddenly talking about hoses?  
  
"Huh?" He looked at her with a puzzled expression. She continued to smile at him as she explained the expression she had used. "What I'm trying to say is that it's important that I'm not putting it off just because I'm scared that it can happen again. If I do that, then I'll probably never be able to overcome my fear."  
  
"So what you're basically saying is that you're scared of becoming too scared." He finally answered. "Exactly... uh... in a way." She nodded and took his hand as she began to rise from the ground. "We should ask Sango if she's up to it too, just to be sure." She continued as she began to drag him towards the village.  
  
Inuyasha only shook his head as he continued to watch her. 'She's really incredible. I don't think that I would be acting the way she does if our roles had been reversed. She doesn't even realise how brave and strong she is.'  
  
-()-()-  
  
A/n: Okay... It's fine if you don't like this chapter. I'm a little unsure about it myself, but it is necessary to explain Kagome's powers and all... And a lot of people have been asking me what kind of hanyou Kagome is... well, I'm sorry to say that I can't reveal that yet.  
  
It'll probably be some time before my next update because I'm going on vacation (no internet access), but I'll be updating as soon as I get the chance. And thanks for all the reviews. I didn't expect such a huge response to this story, but I'm grateful that you like it. 


	6. About Ramen and Something

Chapter Six – About Ramen and Something

-()-()-

Kagome looked around at the camp they had made for the night. She had been surprised to know how well she could see in the dark, but had quickly gotten used to it.

Now that she had been a hanyou herself for a week, she could begin to understand why Inuyasha didn't really like his human nights. Compared to her senses now, being a human would be as if she was blindfolded with her hands tied behind her back. It was still exiting for her to be able to hear her friend's heartbeats and smell it when they were agitated in any way.

Digging into her backpack she fished out her sleeping bag and some food. Rummaging through the bag one last time she realised that she hadn't been home since before the attack. The supplies were getting really low and she only had one cup of instant ramen left. Inuyasha would probably push her through the well if he found out and for once, the prospect of going home wasn't really exciting for Kagome.

She was terrified of how her family would react to what had happened to her. She had promised her mother that she would be safe, so that she was allowed to go on the shard quest with Inuyasha and her friends.

Her brother would probably like the fact that his own sister was a hanyou; he certainly was fond of Inuyasha and had on many occasions asked Kagome if she would marry him. Her grandfather would probably try to exorcise her at first, but then he would accept it. Her mother... She wasn't sure how her mother would react and that was what terrified her of going home.

She wasn't really worried abut her old friends and her school anymore. During the last week, it had seemed insignificant to the life she now had in the warring states. The life she was beginning to have with Inuyasha...

"Why are you looking all broody all of a sudden? Is something wrong?" Kagome snapped out of her thoughts and directed her attention on Shippo who was sitting right in front of her, sucking on a lollipop.

Smiling, she took out a kettle and began to heat some water on the fire that Miroku had started.

"Nothing's wrong Shippo." She ensured him while she patted him on his head. He only shook it in annoyance and jumped into her lap. "Are you sure? You're behaving kind of weird." He continued.

Kagome only smiled back. "I'm sure, I'm probably just tired. That's all." She tried to ignore the attention the rest of the group was beginning to give her because of Shippo's question.

"Well if you're tired Lady Kagome, you should rest and let us prepare the food." Miroku said as he began to usher her away from the boiling water. "But..." She tried to protest, but was cut off by Sango.

"It's fine Kagome. We'll handle it." She said as she dumped a load of firewood near the fire. Nodding, Kagome gave up her attempt to protest and went to sit down on her sleeping bag, watching as the rest of the group prepared the food.

-()-

Inuyasha kept an eye on Kagome from the branch he was perched on.

She had been lying when she told them that she was tired. After all she was a hanyou now, and he himself knew what that meant. Sure, she was able to get tired, but not from the easy journey they had had today.

Miroku, Sango and Shippo wouldn't know that she was lying because none of them were hanyou and therefore they couldn't understand what a hanyou was capable of.

Shifting his position slightly to get a better view of Kagome, Inuyasha tried to figure out why she had lied. She didn't lie much. He knew that, so when she did it was almost always about something important...

Like when she told him that she didn't care that he had been to see Kikyo...

He knew that Kagome didn't like it when he went to see Kikyo, but he felt obligated to protect her just like he felt obligated to protect Kagome. And it was somewhat reassuring for him to know that Kagome would get jealous. That only meant that she cared about him herself, didn't it? Sometimes he even went to meet Kikyo just to make Kagome jealous, just to confirm the suspicion he had that Kagome cared about him and wanted him for herself.

He didn't like to make Kagome angry, but sometimes it seemed that they didn't do anything but argue. That made him doubt how Kagome felt about him and he would go to see Kikyo, just to be assured by Kagome's reaction when she found out... of course that technique often only led to more fighting, but it still made him feel safe with her.

Inuyasha was brought out of his thoughts by Sango's voice.

"Hey Kagome, there's only one pack of Ramen left. Will you travel through the well soon to stock up on the supplies?"

Inuyasha failed to notice that Kagome's posture stiffened as he jumped out of the tree to land in front of Sango and the yellow backpack.

Searching through the bag and throwing out unnecessary thing like the first aid kit and some books, he discovered that Sango had told the truth. There was only one pack of Ramen left.

Picking up the last box, he turned to Kagome and was about to inquire on the subject when he finally noticed Kagome's posture.

Something was wrong. Somehow, this had something to do with why she had lied.

Letting out an exasperated 'keh!' He decided to drop the subject for the time being and turned back to Sango, tossing her the Ramen-box.

"Here, cook this and yell for me when it's done. I'm going into the forest to hunt."

-()-

Sango looked askance at Inuyasha's retreating back while she fingered the pack in her hands.

"Well that was certainly different." Miroku said as he sat down beside her.

Sango nodded absently and opened the Ramen, putting the content into the boiling pot.

"He's been acting different for the entire week. I swear. It's starting to creep me out." She talked quietly, hoping that Kagome's extraordinaire hearing didn't pick it up.

She wasn't the only one that didn't notice that Kagome was missing from the camp.

-()-

Kagome rushed through the forest. She wasn't entirely sure if she was running or flying. It seemed to be something in between.

Following Inuyasha's recent scent deeper into the forest, she began to ponder on what she would tell him. He deserved to know about the doubt she now had about going home and meeting her mother, after all he had been nothing but understanding towards her.

Rushing through some low bushes, she was finally able to glimpse Inuyasha's familiar red and silver form crouching on the ground. He seemed to be intently focusing on something in the lower bushes, but Kagome couldn't see anything from the angle she was at.

Remembering that he was hunting, she crept quietly towards him, not wanting to scare the prey.

She managed to creep up on him without making much sound. It didn't even seem like Inuyasha was aware of her presence, she didn't really think it too strange because she had the wind against her. It would be very difficult if not impossible for him to smell her. She on the other hand was met by his strong, masculine and foresty smell.

She couldn't keep herself from drawing a deep breath, her soul calming by the familiar and loved scent. Unfortunately, he seemed to hear that...

Turning abruptly with a startled expression, Inuyasha was met with two beautiful golden-streaked brown orbs looking into his own, searching his soul.

A small blush fought its way over Kagome's cheeks as they kept looking into each others eyes. She suddenly felt extremely warm, even if the evening was quite chilly. When she finally managed to force her gaze away, there was a tingling sensation in her entire body.

"Sorry for startling you." She squawked when the silence became unbearable.

"I... I need to..." Looking up once more she was again met by his piercing, intense gaze and she was forced to stop, her throat abruptly closing off. This was a lot harder than she'd ever thought it'd be and not because of the subject. It was hard simply because he was there. Close. To her.

-()-

Inuyasha barely heard Kagome's whispered words as he gazed at her intently.

He was too preoccupied by the surprise of her being there in the first place... and the sudden change in her scent. Intoxicating didn't even begin to describe it and he had to fight off some very sudden, very primal urges.

When she met her eyes again, he barely managed to hide the expression clear in his eyes and posture.

When he noticed her flushed, blushing cheeks, he finally realised how close they were sitting and he quickly backed a step away, afraid of what he would do if he didn't keep his distance. It reminded him of how he reacted to her being in heat, but she wasn't in heat now. How could she be? Her monthly bleeding had just stopped...

Kagome had also backed away when he did and now they were at a somewhat comfortable distance.

"So... uh..." He gulped and dug his claws nervously into the soft earth, trying to distract himself.

"You needed to?" He prompted, hoping to bring her out of her stupor again.

Shaking her head slightly, Kagome managed to gather her thoughts as she began to fidget with some grass growing on from the soft ground.

"I need to talk to you." She finally breathed out softly.

Inuyasha's ear flickered and he strained to catch the whispered words.

Sighing he leaned up against the trunk of a tree, folding his arms in his haori.

"About the Ramen? I figured something was wrong..." He said it slowly, not wanting to anger her.

Kagome nodded and continued to play with the grass, focusing intently on the green growth.

"About something like that..." She nodded quietly...

-()-()-

A/n: Okay. I know it's been a long time since I updated and for that I apologise. I wrote myself into a corner. My vacation is also finished now and I'm starting a new year of high school, so the updates will probably become more irregular. Don't believe I'm giving up on the story though... If it takes too long before I update, you're all welcome to mail me and remind me... just in case.

Thank you for all the reviews. I can't believe I have over 90 already. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it myself. Love you guys! And thanks a lot!


	7. The Motion of a Heart

Chapter Seven – The Motion of a Heart

(ooooo)

Drawing a deep breath, Kagome took her eyes off the grass she played with and met Inuyasha's eyes. She managed to fight the small blush this time.

"I'm not sure how... how my... family will react to the... the changes." She stuttered and indicated the obvious changes in her body. Mainly her eyes, ears and claws.

Inuyasha averted his gaze from her and focused on a leaf falling from a tree in the distance.

"I thought you didn't mind your changes." He forced out, barely hiding the tone that came from the sinking feeling in his stomach.

Kagome absently ripped the grass into tiny pieces as she pondered his answer, not wanting to upset him by saying the wrong thing.

"I... I don't." She finally began.

"It's just that I don't want my family to hate me... I think I know how Sota and Jii-chan will react, but I have no clue as to how my mother will react. She's very important to me and I care about her opinion."

She stopped talking, noticing that she had his attention.

"If she really loves you then she wont care about how you look. She'd love you for who you are." Inuyasha ground out, wanting to reassure Kagome.

Kagome grimaced slightly. Seeing the irony in what he'd just said. _'If he'd only realise that the same thing applies for Kikyo.'_

"I'm aware of that Inuyasha, but I still care about her opinion." She shrugged and added another sentence without thinking.

"Just like I cared about your opinion. You're both very important to me." Kagome abruptly stopped, finally realising what she'd said.

Inuyasha froze and slowly turned his head to look at her. She was staring intently at the ground now, her bangs covering her face.

"Keh!" He scoffed, unsure about how to respond, but inside his hearty was soaring.

(ooo)

Suddenly shouting was heard through the forest, Sango's voice startling them out of the awkward silence.

"Inuyasha! The Ramen's done. Come and eat!"

Inuyasha glanced down at his claws before he turned his attention back to Kagome.

"We'd better get back to the others or Miroku will turn hentai on us."

Kagome nodded silently, dusting her hands off on her skirt as she rose from the ground.

"I guess so..." She said slowly, trying to keep her voice calm. Inuyasha still managed to pick up on the sadness and insecurity.

"Look."

He sighed and followed her as she made her way through the thick undergrowth.

"Will you feel better if I come with you when you talk to your mother?"

Kagome abruptly lifted her head and looked hopeful at him. Hope shining in her eyes.

"You'd do that for me?" She asked, not daring to believe him.

Inuyasha turned his head away again in embarrassment.

"Keh! I just said I would. Didn't I? Besides, the new moons coming up. I might as well spend it in your time." He scoffed and tried to explain away his actions.

Kagome nodded. A part of her feeling sorry because he had retreated back to his old defence-mechanism. Shrugging it off, she turned to him again with a bright smile.

"Thank you so much Inuyasha. I'm really grateful. I'd feel much better if I knew you were there with me."

Before she knew what she was doing, she had her arms around his neck in a crushing hug. It didn't occur to her immediately what she was doing, but when it did, she didn't want to let him go.

When she realised how awkward Inuyasha was with the situation, she was about to release him, but changed her mind when she felt him hesitantly returning the hug. Content with her position in her arms, she snuggled into his neck and took a deep breath, savouring the scent of him.

(ooo)

Inuyasha's heart was going into a meltdown. His breath was irregular and fast, but Kagome didn't seem to notice as she tightened her hold on him and snuggled closer to his neck. He was sure that she could feel his heart hammering its way through his chest, but still she didn't move. Not that he complained. She had just taken him by surprise.

Tightening his own grip on her, he brought his chin up to rest on the top of her head. Noticing how silky her hair was he tried to imprint the feel to his memory.

He didn't want to ever let her go. It felt so right when he held her the way he did now. It was like nothing was wrong in the entire world and if something was. She could fix it. He felt content, happy and for the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt truly safe.

'_I belong with her. I belong here, in her arms.'_

Pulling himself out of the mind-numbing daze he whispered softly into her ear.

"We should really get back now. The others might be worrying."

It didn't escape his attention that she shivered slightly when his breath went by her ear. It wasn't the cold, he was sure of it.

Her special scent had just intensified.

He felt like he'd lost something when she pulled herself out from the embrace and he couldn't understand it. Why did he feel that way when she was standing right in front of him?

Shrugging it off, he slowly took her hand and led her back to the camp, feeling a little better when he was touching her.

(ooo)

It didn't go unnoticed by Sango, Miroku and Shippo when Kagome and Inuyasha returned.

They both seemed unnatural edgy and calm at the same time and Miroku couldn't help but make a theory as to why they were acting that way. He was smart enough not to mention his theory out loud tough, but he couldn't help to grin a lecherous smirk...

Sango glanced unnerved at the monk close to her and edged away a bit just in case. That smirk was a sure signal for all attractive young women to stay away. Very far away.

Shippo couldn't help to notice the special scent shrouding both Inuyasha and Kagome when they came back, but he didn't understand what it meant and ignored it. It wasn't annoying and Kagome's scent had changed a lot lately. It didn't have to mean anything important.

A thought suddenly hit Miroku as he watched Inuyasha going towards the Ramen. Where was the prey? Every time Inuyasha went on hunt he brought back something to eat. No matter how small it was.

Glancing over at Kagome a she tucked herself into the sleeping bag, Miroku's smirk widened. To him, the fact that Inuyasha hadn't brought food back only proved one thing. His theory was right.

(ooo)

Inuyasha ate his Ramen with lightening speed as the others began to prepare to go to sleep.

Kagome had declined food, saying that she wasn't hungry.

Finishing off the last piece, Inuyasha looked over to Kagome, noticing that she was already deeply asleep. He sighed and put the empty Ramen cup into a plastic bag Kagome used for garbage. She had scolded him enough times when she'd caught him littering.

He had to agree with her after visiting her time. Her world was over-flown by litter and he was glad that Kagome didn't want it to happen in his time too. He pitied her too. Her world smelled so bad. How would it be for her to go back now? When her sense of smell had improved?

Jumping onto a branch high in the tree overlooking Kagome's sleeping bag, he contented himself to taking one last deep breath before he started his nightly vigil. His last thought before dozing off was about how calming her scent was.

(ooo)

Inuyasha woke with a start.

The sun was shining brightly, burning into his eyes with wild abandon. He yawned loudly and stretched his arms after an entire night spent in an uncomfortable position. Sore and stiff muscles practically screeched out at their treatment as he leapt out of the tree and stopped.

The sun was shining brightly?

Looking around with sudden alertness, he realised with a sinking feeling that something was wrong. He never slept through the night. Actually he rarely slept at all when he wasn't sure that it was safe. When he did sleep in unfamiliar areas, it was only for short periods of time, sleeping so lightly that the sound of a leaf hitting the ground would wake him.

Yet he had slept through the entire night, well into the day and he had slept deeply.

Something was very wrong...

Scanning the camp he took stock on what was there.

Sango, Kirara and Miroku. Yes. Although Miroku slept some feet away from them, that wasn't unnatural so Inuyasha moved on. Hiraikotsu was still here. He had Tetsusaiga. Shippo was lying on Kagome's sleeping bag and Kagome's yellow backpack was there.

A chill crept up his spine in a most unpleasant way and the hairs on his back stood on end. Something wasn't very wrong.

Something was terribly wrong!

He blinked to make sure that he wasn't envisioning stuff and he felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach and die.

Kagome's sleeping bag was empty.

Kagome was gone!

(ooooo)

A/n: Okay... um... not much to say about this chapter (I really liked it, but I don't know about you).

I'd like to thank you all for the reviews, it really inspires me to continue the story. I've actually managed to get over hundred (thanks to you guys). I'm so grateful for all your support and all the compliments.

I'd also like to tell you that I don't care if you write me flames as long as you've got a reason behind your words. It would be great to know how to improve the story and my writing skill. And again; thank you!


	8. Gone!

Chapter Eight – Gone!

Rushing over to Kagome's empty sleeping bag, Inuyasha picked up the sleeping Shippo and shook him hard.

He had to know where Kagome was before he freaked out. Perhaps she'd gone to relieve herself, or maybe she just couldn't sleep and had gone to take her mind off stuff bothering her.

For once in his life, Inuyasha wowed that he wouldn't yell at her if that was what she'd done, but somehow he knew that it wasn't the case this time. The whole situation was too suspicious. Too coincidental.

Shippo yelped in surprise when he suddenly woke with a start.

Inuyasha didn't feel better about the fact that it had been hard to wake the fox. He'd actually been shaking Shippo for quite some time before he woke up.

Silencing the kit with a short growl and a stare, Inuyasha took a deep breath to calm himself. It wouldn't do to scare the kid. He was only able to make matters worse, but then again...

How could it possibly be worse?

"Listen runt. Did you notice Kagome waking during the night? Did you see her walk off somewhere?" Inuyasha was barely able to keep from growling.

Shippo looked at him with a confused expression. It was obvious that he was still partly in the dreaming world.

Shaking him one more time to snap him out of it, Inuyasha couldn't manage to keep from growling anymore.

"Answer me Shippo! Did you notice Kagome moving at all during the night?"

Sensing the obvious agitation to the grumpy hanyou, Shippo was finally able to answer.

"No. I didn't. I've been sleeping through the entire night. Actually, I've never slept better." Shippo smiled and shrugged in apology.

"Why do you ask?" He then inquired, getting suspicious to the hanyou's intent.

"Fuck!" Was all he got out of him, before he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

Shippo watched with rising dread as Inuyasha made his way over to the two sleeping humans and began to yell and growl, telling them to wake up. When that didn't seem to work, he slapped the monk in the face with his palm repeatedly to get a reaction.

"Inuyasha, why are you..."

Shippo didn't get the chance to finish as Miroku suddenly flopped up with a start, bringing his hand up to cradle his sore face.

"What has gotten in to you Inuyasha?" Miroku said with growing anger in his voice.

Shippo took the time before Inuyasha answered to check out his surroundings to find out a reason to the strange behaviour. It didn't take long before he noticed what Inuyasha had noticed long ago.

"Kagome's gone?" It was more of a question than a statement when he said it. Fear rising in him rapidly.

Inuyasha's patience was as good as gone when Shippo stated his observation.

"You don't fucking say!?" He screamed, sarcasm and panic radiating from his voice and tone.

When Miroku tried to calm him down Inuyasha couldn't take it anymore.

"Take a fucking look around Miroku. The sun's up and no one's woken before now. That's not normal. We always wake up at dawn to go and search for shards. And Kagome's nowhere around."

Miroku brought his hand down from his face and took a quick look around.

"Maybe Lady Kagome's gone back to her own time. She was low on supplies after all. Maybe she just didn't want to bother and wake us." Miroku calmly explained, hoping that Inuyasha would understand and believe him. It really wasn't good when Inuyasha was agitated. He had a bad habit of using his claws in that state.

Inuyasha snorted as he looked around one more time, trying to catch Kagome's scent in the blowing breeze.

"Get your head out of your ass Miroku. Something's fishy. Do you even realise how hard it was to wake you and Shippo. Just try to wake Sango yourself and then you'll see. Besides, Kagome wouldn't have gone back home without me. Not this time."

Inuyasha didn't realise his mistake before the words were out of his mouth.

Miroku was grinning while he studied Sango's sleeping form. Edging closer by the second.

Inuyasha closed his eyes, praying for patience. He really didn't have time for this. What if Kagome was in danger? It was his duty to protect her.

"Damn it all." He growled out in frustration as he yanked Miroku away from Sango by the scruff of his neck.

Miroku had been groping the young taiji freely without any resistance and was rather disappointed at the interruption.

"Inuyasha!" He whined as he tried to force his way back to Sango's rear.

Inuyasha's brow twitched in anger as he threw the monk away from the sleeping girl. This wasn't getting him anywhere.

"Quit it Miroku! Kagome might be in danger and all you can think about is groping Sango. You're more of a hentai than I ever gave you credit for. Now get your brain out of the gutter and wake her up properly. I'll scout around to see if I can catch a whiff of Kagome's scent. You'd better hope for your sake that she's unharmed."

With that, Inuyasha leaped out of the clearing, straining his senses to pick up on anything familiar.

Shippo was silent for some minutes as he absently watched Miroku edging closer to Sango. In reality, Shippo was thinking about where Kagome could be. At first he had thought that Inuyasha had said something to upset her, but with the way Inuyasha had been acting since Shippo woke up, he really doubted it. Besides, Inuyasha had been really nice to Kagome for an entire week now.

'_I hope nothing's happened to her._' The thought seemed distant to him.

Finally shaking his head out of his brooding, Shippo sprinted over to Sango's sleeping form, beating Miroku's wandering hands by a mere second. He jumped up and down on Sango's chest at the same time as he pulled at her, wanting her to wake up quickly so that they could go and look for Kagome.

"Sango! You have to wake up! Kagome may be in danger. She's gone!"

No matter what he did, it didn't seem to affect Shippo and he slumped down in a defeated manner, fighting tears.

"We have to save her," he sniffed.

Apparently Miroku didn't seem to find it a problem that Sango wouldn't wake up and his wandering hand found the front of Sango's chest, squeezing lightly.

Shippo was as surprised as everyone else when a lout 'smack' rang through the air, even startling Kirara out of her deep slumber.

"What on earth do you think you're doing you damn hentai!?" Sango screamed as she sat up from the ground, cradling her stinging hand. She'd really hit him hard this time.

Miroku was down in a heap on the ground, mumbling incoherent words in his attempt to explain himself.

Snorting at his lame excuses, Sango pushed herself off from the ground and caught Kirara in her arms when the neko-youkai jumped into her embrace. Looking around it didn't take long for the experienced taiji to know that something was seriously wrong.

"Where is everybody?" She glanced around and shaded her eyes against the piercing sun.

"And why's it close to midday?"

She turned to the lecherous monk just as he managed to push himself up from the ground and stand on his own.

Miroku shook his head to clear it after the slap and looked around too. Of course he didn't see anything that he hadn't noticed before.

"It seems that Kagome's gone. Inuyasha insists that she didn't leave of her own free will and suspects that she's been kidnapped. He's currently out trying to find a clue to her whereabouts. "

He stated it so calmly and collected that Sango felt a vein pop in her for-head.

"WHAT!?" She exclaimed loudly, startling him so he jumped back.

"Kagome's been kidnapped and you're busy groping me while I sleep? Speaking of... Why didn't anybody wake me earlier?" She had been advancing and speaking louder and louder by the moment, forcing a nervous monk to retreat step by step.

Holding his hands up in defence, he tried to calm her.

"Dear Sango. It seems that we've all been put under some kind of sleeping spell. Everybody just woke up. I merely tried to wake you when my hand found itself by a mistake on your chest. I really was aiming lower..."

He trailed off when he saw that his words did nothing to calm her nerves. In fact, she was either red with rage, or she was blushing rather furiously. He wondered if it could be both. It seemed likely...

Growling under her breath, Sango turned abruptly and picked up her bone boomerang.

"Kirara.Transform."

When the fire cat had done just that, she picked up Shippo and climbed on. Turning at the last moment to quirk an eyebrow at Miroku, he followed suit and they were off.

"Now we have to find Inuyasha, then we can go to look for Kagome. I only hope Naraku hasn't gotten to her. This all smells of his traps..."

The whispered words brought a chill to everyone present.

The room she was in was rank and dark. An overwhelming stench of blood intruded her nose and her head felt heavy. She was sure that she was going to puke sometime soon. Or pass out. She wished for the last...

Feeling her way across the cold stone floor, she was able to find a wall. She touched the surface briefly, but quickly yanked it back at the sticky and slick feel. When she brought her fingers up to her nose she found that the scent of blood multiplied and she felt her stomach heave.

When the last spasm finally resided she was only grateful that she hadn't eaten anything yesterday. The acrid scent of her stomach content added to the blood, made he head spin out of control, but she managed to scoot herself away from the vomit before she collapsed into oblivion. Grateful for the relieving darkness.

Inuyasha turned to look over his shoulders at his approaching companions while he kept his senses alert for anything that could reveal a trap.

He had searched for hours before he finally managed to pick up on a weak trace of Kagome's scent. It had been covered by another that he both despised and hated, and he hoped with all of his soul that Kagome would be alive when he found her.

Naraku was not one that was to be ignored...

When Kirara finally caught up with him with the others on her back, he turned and gazed at the village in the distance. Kagome's trail led directly towards it, but from the point he was now, he couldn't see anything that signalled a populated area. Nothing moved.

"Is Kagome in that village?"

Inuyasha glanced over to Shippo, acknowledging his question.

"I don't know, but her scent trail leads towards it. It could be a trap though so we'd better be careful."

Secretly, Inuyasha was proud of the pup. Shippo hadn't made the fuss he'd normally make when Kagome was in danger, even if his body language told of real fear for her life. The kit had finally begun to control his feelings. That was a good thing.

Moving forwards, he checked that Tetsusaiga was free in its scabbard.

A/n: Here's the new chapter. Enjoy!


	9. Traps

Chapter Nine – Traps

(ooooo)

Kagome was vaguely aware of someone moving to her left as she squinted against the sudden light. Her vision was blurred and her head was throbbing. Stiffeling a groan, she brought her hand up to her head in an attempt to massage the pain out.

"It's better if you don't move."

The sudden, but softly whispered words only resulted in Kagome yanking her head to her left, to find out who the voice came from.

Groaning again because of the added discomfort the move resulted in, Kagome rested her head back to the floor she was lying on.

"Where am I?" She finally managed to mumble when the room stopped spinning.

Turning her head slowly towards the strange person again, Kagome was surprised to see that it was some sort of female youkai. The pale blue hair she had and her ice-blue eyes were a dead giveaway to the fact that she wasn't a human. And even if that hadn't been enough to convince Kagome, the special aura the youkai had would've been enough.

The blue-haired youkai shook her head slowly as she prepared something out of Kagome's sightline.

"I'm not allowed to tell." The youkai finally said, not meeting Kagome's eyes.

Kagome kept silent for some minutes while she tried to remember what she had experienced lately. She had been with Inuyasha. Smiling to herself she recollected the latest moments she had spent with him. The heart-warming embrace wasn't something she was about to forget easily. She lived for brief moments like that.

Trying to prod further into her memory, she wasn't able to remember much more. She had gone to sleep and then...

Shaking her head carefully, Kagome sat up and looked towards the youkai again.

"What's your name? I'm Kagome."

Kagome smiled widely to the nervous female as she supported herself with a hand to the floor.

"Hamei," the youkai answered curtly.

"Nice to meet you Hamei. So, even if you can't tell me where I am, can you tell me how I got here?"

Kagome was beginning to get really curious and nervous as she continued to study the youkai. She seemed extremely nervous and agitated. When youkai were nervous it rarely resulted in anything good.

Blushing slightly, Hamei brought her head up to face Kagome.

"I... I made you fall into a hypnotic sleep and then another youkai brought you here."

Kagome's nervousness increased as Hamei talked. Of course she had realised that she'd been kidnapped, but she still didn't like what she was hearing. What had happened to the others? Where was Inuyasha?

"The others I was with, what did you do to them?" She inquired lightly, schooling her features to make her seem calm and collected.

The youkai shrugged.

"They're probably still sleeping. It was a very heavy sleep I put you under."

Kagome was immediately relieved when she heard that, but it still didn't do anything to help her own situation. She didn't loose her hope tough, Inuyasha was alive and when he woke up he would probably come for her right away.

Sighing softly, Kagome relaxed into a more comfortable position on the floor and turned her attention to what Hamei was doing.

It seemed as if she was preparing a hot bath for someone.

After a long silence, Kagome couldn't take it anymore and broke it.

"So, do you have any idea why I was brought here?"

Hamei shrugged and took a kettle of boiling water and poured it into a larger contained with cold water.

"Not really, but it's probably something usual, like extortion, bait, bribing or simply an urge to piss everybody off."

Kagome stiffened and studied the female youkai closer. She only knew of one creature that enjoyed doing those things. Her insides froze at the thought. Of course she had to be captured by no other than Naraku.

Why would Naraku kidnap Kagome though? If he had been able to put everyone asleep, wouldn't it be easier to kill them all then and there? But then again that wasn't Naraku's thing. He always resorted to traps and cunningly hidden betrayals, gloating in the feeling he got from breaking allies apart.

Quelling the sudden urge to scream and flee, Kagome scooted closer to the youkai and looked at what she was doing again, this time in an attempt to distract her thoughts.

"Who's the bath for?"

Hamei, turned as the door opened softly and Kagome gasped at the sight that met her.

"Another guest." Hamei said, her voice filled with sorrow and regret.

'_Kami-sama! Inuyasha, please come soon.'_

Kagome could feel tears stinging her eyes.

(ooo)

Inuyasha was making his way down to the village with the rest of his group behind him when he felt an odd feeling spread over him. It was like he walked through a wall of running water, but he couldn't see or smell anything to prove it. It was only the sensations fleeting across his skin that told him that something had happened or was happening.

As soon as the feeling begun it ended and he felt an odd urge to draw a deep breath.

Behind him, his friends had noticed the odd behaviour and they had stopped some feet away, keeping their eyes on him with worried expressions. Everyone was aware of the potential trap they were walking into.

"What's the matter Inuyasha?" Miroku asked as he climbed off Kirara, landing softly on the ground.

Sango and Shippo quickly followed.

Inuyasha stopped too and looked behind him to see if he could find an answer to the odd feeling he had felt. All he was met with was the worried looks of his fellow fighters.

"It's nothing, probably just my imagination." He said as he continued onward. Intent on the village he was entering.

Sango looked doubtful at Miroku, but finally shrugged and moved forwards, Miroku close behind her. They didn't notice anything out of place as they caught up with Inuyasha.

Shippo wasn't slow in following, but as he took one step forward, he too felt the odd feeling, the strange feeling of being doused slowly in water. It wasn't unpleasant. Actually it was kind of refreshing.

As he stepped through the invisible wall, he looked over to his right, to find Kirara shaking her fur as if she'd recently come out of water and was trying to shake it dry.

Shippo glanced back to the rest of the group, and then muttered some choice words about strange things happening all the time, but he couldn't help to think what it meant, or why Sango and Miroku hadn't seemed to feel it.

(ooo)

Inuyasha abruptly stopped and looked around wildly.

"What the?" He exclaimed as he began to sniff the air furiously.

Sango and Miroku cast each other odd looks again as they witnessed his strange behaviour. It seemed as if their hanyou friend was getting more frustrated by the second.

"Inuyasha what's going on?"

Inuyasha ignored them as he took a deep whiff once again, hoping to find it again. It couldn't disappear like that. It was impossible. Letting out a colourful string of curses he turned quickly to the fox kit who, by the way, was looking just as confused as he felt.

"Hey, Shippo did you loose it too?"

At the curt nod from the kit, Inuyasha turned with a fierce growl, glaring at the fire cat.

"I guess it's too much to ask that you didn't loose it?"

Kirara just looked at him with a serene stare.

"Inuyasha what are you talking about? What did you loose?"

Sango was getting pretty irritated at their odd behaviour.

Inuyasha turned towards her with a fierce glower, waving his arms fiercely.

"Her scent. I lost her fucking scent!"

The worry and frustration he'd felt since he woke up was taking their toll on his nerves and he really wanted to rip something up. Rip it up and then destroy it.

Miroku glanced worriedly at Inuyasha and indicated the area behind them.

"Can't you just go back and find it again?" He asked calmly.

"No." He growled back.

"It's not here anymore. I'm telling you it disappeared. Naraku's fucking tricked us and we fell for it, hook, line and sinker."

"Oh..." There didn't seem to be any other response to give to the startling news.

Just then, the wind changed and Inuyasha picked up another scent that he loathed.

"I don't have fucking time for this..."

Grabbing a hold of the Tetsusaiga, Inuyasha glared in the direction the wind came from.

(ooooo)

A/n: I love how this story's working out. Lol. That you for the reviews. It makes me feel so good when people tall me what they like about the story. It helps me so much in improving it.


	10. Shippo's Realisation

Chapter Ten – Shippo's Realisation

(ooooo)

Kagome quickly got out of her stupor as a young girl stumbled into the room, the wind youkai Kagura closely behind. Kagome wasn't very shocked to find out that Kagura was there, it was more the fact that Rin, the little human girl following after Sesshoumaru, was there.

Rin looked as if she'd been dragged through the forest-floor. Her clothes were tattered and dirty and she had small cuts and bruises covering her frail form. It enraged Kagome to see her this way, but she refrained from commenting, not wanting to make matters worse.

Rising swiftly and gracefully from the floor Kagome was at Rin's side before anybody could blink an eye, let alone react.

Kagura raised an eyebrow in a questioning way, dismissing whatever questions she had on her mind; she walked passed the two humans, ignoring their presence completely.

Rin didn't show any emotions as she looked around the room slowly. Kagome guessed that she was too shocked to do anything else so she bent down with open her arms, inviting the small child to get the support she needed.

"It's okay Rin. It's me Kagome. Remember? I travel with Sesshoumaru's brother."

At the name of the Lord of the Western Lands, Rin directed her gaze to meet Kagome's eyes. Both challenge and worry clearly evident in her chocolate brown eyes.

"Your eyes are different." She stated simply.

Kagome smiled as she nodded and drew Rin in for an embrace.

"I know Rin. Something weird happened to me not long ago. I promise that I will tell it to you later."

Kagome could feel that Rin's posture was still stiff and awkward. A slight scent of fear reached her nose and she tightened her grip on the girl.

"I promise I'll look after you till Sesshoumaru comes here."

Kagome had no doubts that the youkai Lord was on his way. She had on many occasions sensed a slight change in his behaviour, posture and aura whenever the small child was nearby. She had no doubts that Sesshoumaru cared for her, no matter how strange it might seem.

"Is Lord Sesshoumaru fine? I don't want him to be hurt." The scared voice reached Kagome's sensitive ears and she nodded against the girl's shoulder.

"I'm sure Sesshoumaru is fine." Kagome cast a glance over at Kagura as she continued to consult the girl.

"He's strong and brave and very soon he'll be here for you."

Kagome could feel Rin relax against her and she scooped her up, cradling her in her lap in the same way Inuyasha held her when she was worried or scared.

Sensing movement from the other occupants of the room, Kagome looked up to see Hamei carrying a tray of lukewarm water towards them. She put it down in front of Kagome and handed her a small towel.

"I think it's best if you wash her." She whispered silently before walking away again, settling herself against a corner of the room.

Kagome switched her glance to Kagura as she dipped the towel in the tray.

"Why's Naraku doing this?" She asked the wind youkai calmly.

Kagura glanced to the door once before answering.

"Bait mostly. I'm guessing he wants the hanyou and Lord Sesshoumaru to kill each other. When they've done that, or at least been wounded enough to weaken them, he'll make his final move. Mind you I'm only guessing. It's not like the lousy bastard ever tells me anything."

A smirk lit on Kagura's face and Kagome got the feeling that the action was mutual. More of a 'if you won't share, I won't share' kind of thing.

Kagome frowned and put her attention back to washing the small girl resting comfortably in her lap.

"Kagome?"

Rin spoke suddenly and lifted her gaze to meet Kagome's

"Hm?"

"What does 'bastard' mean?"

(ooo)

Inuyasha felt a growl grow in his throat as Sesshoumaru and his toad retainer finally came into view.

For once it wasn't his presence that caused the reaction in Inuyasha, well, not only his presence at least. No, now it was mostly because of the faint scent that clung to Sesshoumaru like a second skin.

It was a scent Inuyasha adored, a scent of purity mixed with fresh flowers and honey. A scent of power. Kagome's scent.

'_The fucking bastard. What has he done?'_

Sesshoumaru's reaction was very much like Inuyasha's. In fact, for a second they both seemed to act exactly alike, exactly at the same time.

They stopped, glared, sniffed and growled before they both attacked face on. Not one word spoken to explain the reason of the sudden attack.

Both Miroku and Sango stared amazed at the pure power unleashed in the assaults. It wasn't Only Sesshoumaru, but Inuyasha too. They moved like shadows, one moment there and the next gone. Never had either Miroku or Sango witnessed anything similar in any of the fights the brothers had had in the past.

Sango inched closer to Miroku and took a hold of his arm, clinging to him for support, needing it. Too much had happened in the last week and it only seemed to build and escalate. She didn't know if she could take it anymore.

"Why are they fighting? Like this I mean. We should be out looking for Kagome or her scent."

Miroku only nodded as he watched the display of raw, brutal power. Not even noticing Sango's approach.

Shippo was as amazed as the rest of them, but when Sango mentioned searching for Kagome's scent, he sniffed the air and was surprised at what he discovered.

"That's it!" He cried out as he rushed towards the fighting brothers, ignoring the startled cries from behind.

"Inuyasha! Inuyasha listen to me." He dodged the inu youkai as he came crashing towards him.

Inwardly, Shippo winced. That last blow delivered by Inuyasha had been incredibly hard and accurate. He kind of pitied the dog demon.

"Inuyasha stop fighting! He doesn't have Kagome!"

Dodging once again, he ran after Inuyasha as he skittered across the ground. This time Sesshoumaru had been the one to deliver the blow.

"Listen to me!" He yelled again when he reached the hanyou struggling to get off the ground and back to the fighting.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Inuyasha growled as he leapt back to his feet.

Shippo barely had time to get out of the way as both of them attacked again.

"It's not her scent!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Naraku's trying to trick us."

The fighting abruptly stopped as if both the brothers, by an unspoken compromise, had agreed to listen to the kit when Naraku's name was mentioned.

"Speak." Sesshoumaru commanded with an icy voice, clearly stating how little patience he had.

Shippo gulped and averted his gaze from the cold raptor eyes Sesshoumaru had fixed on him. He wanted nothing more than to creep down a hole in the earth and stay there. How could he have been so stupid as to interfere when the two descendants of the greatest inu youkai ever went into a face on assault?

"The scent Inuyasha. It's not Kagome's."

Shippo tried to keep his heart from stopping as menacing growling erupted from them both.

"Of course it is. You think I don't know Kagome's scent?" Inuyasha growled back, snatching for Shippo's tail.

Shippo managed to jump away and shook his head, praying that Sesshoumaru would have a little more patience... His eyes were starting to turn red.

"It's not her new scent. It's her old."

Sesshoumaru blinked in surprise at the kit's statement, but quickly returned to his old expressionless self. He didn't quite understand what the kit was talking about. The only scent he could smell was that of Rin and it was covering his bastard brother.

Shippo pretended not to notice and continued with the explanation.

"Naraku's tricking us. Probably with some spell... Think about it, he'd be just the guy to make this kind of trap; having you and Sesshoumaru kill each other would fit him perfectly. Besides there was that strange feeling when we entered the village and after that we've not been able to sense her. Until Sesshoumaru came that is. He smells of Kagome, but it's her old scent. Naraku doesn't know about her change yet."

"I have no reason to smell of Inuyasha's wench." Sesshoumaru stated calmly, ignoring the growling erupting from his brother.

Miroku and Sango had deemed it safe enough to approach and positioned themselves behind Shippo. Miroku was leaning slightly on his staff.

"What Shippo says makes scent, but I'd like to know why you Lord Sesshoumaru attacked without warning this time. I can understand Inuyasha's reaction, but yours is unclear to me."

Miroku looked calmly up at Sesshoumaru, managing to keep him cool when the icy gaze was directed to him.

"This Sesshoumaru does not have to explain himself to a lowly human."

Miroku nodded.

"True, but if it helps to destroy Naraku's plan don't you think it's worth sharing some information?"

Shifting his grip briefly on his staff, Miroku sent Inuyasha a hard glare to keep him from rushing into something that he would regret.

There was a stretching silence as they all waited for Sesshoumaru's response. Finally Sesshoumaru gave an imperceptible nod and turned away from them, beginning to leave.

"Oi! Where do you think you're going?" Inuyasha yelled after him.

Sesshoumaru lightly tilted his head, but kept on going.

"The lowly hanyou Naraku has stolen from me and I will not let him get away with such an insult. You Inuyasha are covered in the scent that belongs to what he stole. This Sesshoumaru is going to find that lowly hanyou Naraku and kill him." It was stated with a calm, deliberate voice masking the fury the Inu Lord had.

"Not without me you're not!" Inuyasha responded and ran after him.

Sesshoumaru stopped abruptly and turned an icy glare at his half brother.

"This Sesshoumaru does not have time for your meddling and annoying ways."

Inuyasha snorted and kept going, passing him and taking the lead.

"The fucking bastard's taken Kagome and from the way you're acting I bet it was Rin he took from you. Now get your lazy ass in gear. I won't allow him to get away this time."

(ooo)

Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara began to follow as Jaken finally mustered enough courage to come out from the tree he had been hiding behind.

Glancing around the empty village a thought suddenly struck Miroku...

"Inuyasha how are we supposed to find Naraku now that the scent trail was false?"

(ooooo)

A/n: First I'd like to thank '_joey_' and '_xXSamuraiKitsuneXx_' for informing me on my spelling mistakes. I've been wondering about that word's spelling for a long time and I'm too lazy to look it up. Thanks a lot for helping me improve my writing.

Second I'm going to take my time to answer some questions (for once): The 'water sensation' was a ward Naraku put up to ruin youkai's sense of smell as long as they're in the area. Basically it messes up scents and adds scents that aren't really there. Hope that explains it.

Thanks for the reviews.


	11. Finding the Barriers

Chapter Eleven – Finding the Barriers

(ooooo)

Inuyasha stopped and turned back to look at the monk. He'd totally forgotten about that small detail during the fight with Sesshoumaru, now the obvious fact hit him brutally hard and he couldn't keep a small curse from escaping his lips.

"Damn."

An amused smirk spread over Sesshoumaru's face as he regarded his brother closely. It only served to anger Inuyasha more.

"And what are you smiling at you lousy bastard? I bet you don't know where he is either."

At the lack of response Inuyasha figured that he'd been correct, but for once he wished that his lousy brother knew things he didn't. Hell, he was even willing to give his brother the Tetsusaiga if it would bring Kagome back. Of course he'd never admit that out loud.

"You have no right to address Lord Sesshoumaru in such a dishonourable way."

Jaken finally made his presence known, but everybody ignored him. There were more important things on the line than sibling rivalry.

Turning his attention back to the monk, Inuyasha put his hand on the hilt of his sword as much to make sure that it was there as out of habit.

"Do you have any ideas monk?"

Miroku shrugged offhandedly and indicated the village around them.

"I think the best place to look would be here. Naraku obviously arranged for us to meet Sesshoumaru here and he's sure to have had some way to watch the battle. He revels in the downfall of his enemies and he'd probably give anything to see your fight with Sesshoumaru. I'd say he's really close by and if he's not, one of his puppets surely is."

Inuyasha listened somewhat patiently as Miroku spoke. He had to admit that what he said made sense. And if Naraku wasn't here there were probably some clues to be found that could point out where he really was. Nodding he began to walk to one of the buildings in the village.

"Let's split up. Whoever finds something first alerts the others. It'll go faster that way and I'm not sure how much time we have left when Naraku realises that his plan didn't work."

Nodding, Miroku and Sango went together and Shippo and Kirara went together. The only ones that didn't move were Sesshoumaru and Jaken.

(ooo)

Sesshoumaru didn't move a muscle as Inuyasha and his group disappeared in different directions. It wasn't before Jaken spoke that he reacted to anything at all.

"Shall we leave now Lord Sesshoumaru?"

Jaken couldn't stand to be close to lowly beings as the hanyou and his human friends. It had been bad enough to have the human child running after them, but to be seen in the company of Inuyasha's odd group would be really degrading.

Sesshoumaru glanced once to his retainer before moving off in a direction the others hadn't covered.

"We will stay here and search for clues. The monk had some valid points in his evaluation and I'll not let one stone be unturned in search for Rin and that bastard Naraku. He will pay for his crime with his life this time."

Jaken grimaced slightly behind Sesshoumaru's back, but didn't protest. Protesting would only bring the Lord's anger on him.

(ooo)

Kagome looked down at the small child sleeping in her arms. She hadn't acted scared at all after Kagome's reassurance that Sesshoumaru was fine. Kagome had wondered at Rin's behaviour and had come to the conclusion that for whatever reason, the small child didn't have the sense to worry about her own life. She was only worried about her beloved Lord.

Smirking ruefully to herself, Kagome couldn't see any reason for Rin's reactions to be wrong. After all, she herself didn't care much about her own life if it meant that Inuyasha would be happy and safe. She guessed that love, no matter what kind of love, did that to you.

Forcing herself out of her brooding, Kagome glanced over to Hamei. She had problems figuring the youkai out. Hamei's behaviour and her aura did not convey anything to indicate that she was conceiving or malicious, therefore Kagome couldn't find any reasons for her to assist Naraku. Everything was so confusing.

"Why are you doing this? Working for Naraku I mean." Kagome asked quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping girl.

Kagura had left the room to them moments earlier without an explanation. Kagome didn't think it could mean anything good.

Hamei met Kagome's gaze and Kagome couldn't do anything but flinch at the sadness and worry she saw in them. Whatever Naraku had done to make this youkai cooperate, it had to be awful.

"He... he took my sister." She answered slowly, her voice shaking slightly.

Kagome couldn't help but feel sorry for the female youkai. It was typical of Naraku to use extortion to get his way and she loathed him more because of it. He didn't have any boundaries as to what he would do to get what he wanted.

Looking down to the small shard hanging on a cord around her neck, Kagome fingered it slowly.

Naraku would do anything to get his hands on the shikon no tama...

She had been surprised to find out that it was still around her neck when she woke up. There was no reason she could think of that explained why Naraku hadn't taken it yet.

"Can't you get her back on your own?" She asked carefully.

"It would be easy for you to put her captors under a sleeping spell."

Hamei shook her head and sighed.

"Naraku's done something to hide her scent. I can't find her even if I want to and I have no idea where to look. I tried once, but I was unsuccessful. For my misbehaviour Naraku said that he would punish my sister. I... I don't want to risk it."

Hamei suddenly broke down and began to sob silently. Kagome carefully lifted Rin up and carried her over to Hamei. Sitting down again, Kagome bent over and began to comfort the distressed youkai.

"I promise you. If I ever get out of this building, I'll search for your sister. I don't need to be able to smell her to find her. I can search for her aura. It won't be easy because I've never met her, but I'll do my best and knowing how your aura is certainly helps since you're family."

Hamei only sobbed harder, tears running freely down her cheek.

"You don't understand. She's a hanyou. Her aura's different than mine."

Kagome's heart leap in her chest. She was a hanyou? A smile slowly spread over her face as she realised what it meant.

"That is great Hamei. It will only make it easier for me to find her. There aren't many half-demons around. Here aura will be different from the youkai and the humans. She'll stand out like a light in the darkness."

Hamei's wreaking sobs stilled quickly.

"Really? You'll be able to find her?" Her voice was like a whisper, not daring to believe it true.

"Really." Kagome confirmed.

"I'll find her in no time. Now the only thing we have to do is get out of her. I'm sure Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru will be here soon. They never were likely to give up just because Naraku got in the way. In fact, it'll probably make them try harder."

(ooo)

Kagura walked through the hallway with deliberate and fast steps. She had felt one of Naraku's inner shields react and was sure that the hanyou and his group were closing in on them. She smirked inwardly at the thought. Another one of Naraku's plans failing, she had to admit that this plan had been without flaws... until she noticed the miko's new scent. She should've told Naraku of course, but on the other hand he hadn't ordered her to tell him if scents changed.

It was his fault for not thinking about the possibility.

Rounding a corner, Kagura had reached the end of the hallway and she walked out the door, her hope rising as she saw the persons lurking right outside Naraku's shield.

It wasn't the hanyou or his youkai brother, but the monk and the female taiji. In other words, the second best thing, she only hoped that they would have the brains to notice the shield of invisibility... and have the means to bring down the strong barrier.

Maybe she'd finally get her heart back after all...

(ooo)

Miroku stopped abruptly, bringing his arm out to keep Sango from moving on. It just so happened that it landed on here chest... again.

'THWAK!'

Cradling his head with a hand, Miroku tried to back away from the angry exterminator who was still holding her bone boomerang lifted high.

"But Sango, I was merely trying to stop you. This village is so empty and foreboding that I only wanted to make sure that you didn't step on any wile things."

Sango lowered Hiraikotsu slowly and searched the empty area they were standing in. She couldn't see any 'wile things' anywhere. Blushing furiously in both anger and embarrassment she brought the heavy weapon down again, barely missing the lecherous monk as he dodged the blow, hands raised in a passive manner in an attempt to ward her off.

"Liar!" She yelled as she swung again, this time barely grazing his robe.

"You just want to have an excuse to grope me. You're such a hentai."

Smiling pleasantly, Miroku said the only thing that came to mind.

"At least I'm your hentai."

Sango's face turned, if possible, even darker and she lunged at him with renewed force. Why did he always have to act the way he did? Couldn't he just once try to complement her without hidden meanings, or try to help her without hidden intentions?

Miroku dodged each blow as it came towards him, finally loosing balance and stumbling backwards.

Fire seared through his back as he connected with something invisible to the naked eye and he was blown forwards with a sudden and frightening force. Hitting the ground with a soft 'thud', he tried to comprehend what had happened. At first he thought that Sango had finally hit her mark, but the ache in his back was unlike anything he'd ever felt before, besides if it had been Sango, shouldn't the hurt be on his head or his front?

Sango's eyes flew wide open in surprise as she saw what happened. As Miroku had hit the invisible wall, it had turned fiercely red for a brief second before it had repelled the monk, sending him flying through the air.

Dropping Hiraikotsu to the ground she ran towards him at the same moment she saw Sesshoumaru and Jaken hurrying towards them from one direction. Inuyasha coming from the other, Shippo and Kirara closely behind.

(ooooo)

A/n: Sorry for the late update. I'm currently drowning in tests. I hope you don't mind too much. Thanks for reviewing.


	12. Breaking the Barriers

Chapter twelve – Breaking the Barriers

(ooooo)

Inuyasha skittered to stop closely behind Sango and Miroku. He bent down swiftly and pulled Miroku to his feet.

"What the fuck happened? Where did that red light come from?"

Blinking in confusion, Miroku shook his head and glanced over to the spot he had recently been standing.

"It came from an invisible barrier that Miroku stumbled into." Sango answered while keeping her eyes locked on Miroku to make sure that he hadn't suffered too much damage from the blast.

Releasing his grip on the monk, Inuyasha turned to look the other direction. He couldn't see anything that indicated that there was a barrier there, but on the other hand, they had never really been able to see Naraku's barriers unless he wanted them to be visible.

Glancing to the right, Inuyasha saw that Sesshoumaru had stopped some feet from them and was studying the area where the barrier was supposed to be too.

"Ready to fight?" Inuyasha asked over his shoulder as he grabbed the Tetsusaiga with his right hand.

Sango nodded gravely as she handed Miroku his staff.

"We're ready."

Inuyasha nodded and cast a last glance over his shoulder. His eyes landed on the small kitsune and he narrowed his eyebrows. Kagome would get mad if the pup got harmed.

"Stay out of the way Shippo. It would be better if you could keep track over the battlefield. Keep out of sight, but tell us if you see something that we can use."

Shippo nodded and scurried off towards the edge of the village. He knew perfectly well that he wouldn't be able to do much in a fight against Naraku and he was glad for another opportunity to make himself useful.

"Be prepared for anything."

Inuyasha said as he drew the sword and transformed it. He was vaguely aware that Sesshoumaru hadn't made any moves to take the sword away from him, but he didn't give it much thought as he raised the blade and pointed it in a general direction of the invisible barrier.

(ooo)

Kagura could barely conceal the excitement she felt when she watched the hanyou raise his sword and turn it crimson. He brought it down in a wide arch and released a wave of the force that was pent up in the fang. The wave billowed outwards until it reached the invisible barrier.

She watched with concealed awe as the force made the barrier visible and began to tear it down.

It occurred to her that she was in a bit of a predicament when the group began to charge forwards. She wanted them to win and defeat Naraku so that she could have her heart back, but on the other hand Naraku would kill her if he realised that she had done nothing to fight back.

Naraku wasn't as far away, nor as close by as she would've liked him to be. He was hiding somewhere nearby, probably in some of the tunnels that were hidden underneath the village, or in one of the underground dungeons. If she could make it look like she did her best to fight them off and at the same time directed them in his direction, she would have a chance to obtain her freedom.

Smirking, Kagura prepared to put her own plan into action as she flipped out her fan.

'_It's time to stir some wind...'_

(ooo)

As the distant sounds of battle reached Kagome, she cast a worried glance at Rin before she brought her attention back to Hamei.

"Do you have any orders to keep us in this room?" She asked quietly.

She didn't want to risk the possibility of Hamei's sister getting punished if she did something that would put Hamei in a dilemma. Still, worrying over Hamei's sister didn't stop her from worrying about Inuyasha too. It sounded as if the battle outside was really fierce.

Hamei shook her head and offered a weak smile.

"I was only supposed to cast the spell of sleep over you. After that I've been commanded to stay in this room and not leave. As far as I know there are no such restrictions on you and the young girl."

She paused a moment as she considered something before she continued.

"Be careful though. Even if he didn't order me to keep you here it doesn't mean he didn't order others..."

Kagome nodded as she rose from the floor with Rin clutching her hand.

"I'll be careful and I'll keep a watch out for your sister's aura too. If I notice it I'll try to free her, or come back to tell you. I promise."

Before Hamei could say anything in response, Kagome had scooped Rin up in her arms and was hurrying out of the room. Once outside she slowed down and let Rin slide back to the floor, careful to keep any sound to a minimum.

"Stay close to me Rin and be as quiet as you can. If you see or notice something you think is important, pull on my clothes. Do you understand?" She whispered to keep her voice low and smiled reassuringly when Rin nodded.

"That's good, now I'll see if I can take you back to Sesshoumaru."¨

At that Rin broke out in a wide grin as Kagome turned and led the girl along by her hand. Turning a corner, Kagome kept her senses on wide alert as she moved forwards, both to be prepared to meet danger and to search for an unfamiliar hanyou aura.

Outside the large building, she could make out the sound of strong winds ripping through the landscape.

(ooo)

"Fuujin no Mai!" Kagura yelled as she let loose another round of her cutting wind.

Inuyasha cursed as he dodged.

Because of Kagura's huge battle-aura, he was unable to use the wound of the wind in his attack. Normally, he would ask Kagome to shoot an arrow to split the wind, but since Kagome had been captured, he didn't have that possibility.

Charging head on and gaining speed by the second, Inuyasha twisted in the air to avoid another wind-blade as he brought his sword down horizontally in an attempt to sever Kagura's head from her body.

She too twisted and managed to duck under his blade at the last second, bringing her fan out again at the same time.

"Ryuuja no Mai!" She shouted as she let loose her strongest attack; Dance of the Dragon.

Inuyasha's eyes widened as the twisters began to from. He was too close to dodge it. Letting loose a string of curses, he barely noticed Sesshoumaru attacking Kagura from behind as one of the tornados caught him head on and pulled him in.

He suppressed a groan as the wind tore at him, threatening to tear him apart while it brought him higher and higher above the ground. When the power of the twister began to wink out, his eyes widened and he cursed yet again.

It was a long way down to the ground...

(ooo)

While Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had focused their attack on Kagura, Sango and Miroku had taken the opportunity to edge along the fight and were now standing some feet away from the buildings entrance. It seemed to be a simple task to enter until the doors slowly began to open to reveal the form of Sango's younger brother.

Taking a step forwards, eyes wide open, Sango's first impulse was to run to her brother and embrace him. That thought was quickly changed as Kohaku's chain weapon came from out of nowhere and headed straight towards her.

It was too late for her to block and Sango was sure that she was about to die when Miroku Stepped out in front of her and parried with his staff. Sighing in relief, Sango dropped her boomerang and drew her katana. Advancing on her brother, she yelled orders to Miroku.

"Go and find Kagome! I'll keep him distracted."

Kohaku brought his own katana out and the sound of steal meeting steal soon echoed through the air as Miroku nodded and ran past them, Kirara staying with her mistress.

Parrying another attack from her brother, Sango met his attack and twisted her blade, managing to turn around him and wrap her arms around his from behind him. He twisted wildly, but she had him locked in a strong grip. Now, if she could only manage to disarm him...

Kicking his feet away from under him, he dropped his katana in an attempt to brace the fall. Sango wouldn't risk him getting hurt though, so she flipped them around so that she took the brunt of the fall.

Panting and still holding her brother locked tight, she was on her back with the wind knocked out of her.

Kohaku was on his back too, but since he had Sango underneath him, cushioning the fall, he didn't have a problem catching his breath and began to kick around in an attempt to free himself.

Sango grunted from the effort of holding him and flipped them over again, pinning him under her with his stomach down. It limited his ability to move and gave her time to catch her breath.

"Kohaku, you have to stop this. I'm your sister. Please try to remember." She pleaded as she kept him down.

(ooo)

Turning another corner, Kagome glanced around in confusion. She was sure that she had been here before. No matter how hard she tried, she always ended up in the hallway outside the room she had been kept in.

The building was like a maze. A huge maze constructed with spells and illusions.

Growling in annoyance, Kagome closed her eyes and strained her ears again like she had done countless times before. Again, the only sounds that met her were those from her, Rin, Hamei and the battle outside.

Focusing on the battle, she frowned. It seemed to be escalating.

'_Please be okay Inuyasha.'_ She silently prayed to herself. She couldn't stand it if he got hurt because of her.

"Are Kagome and Rin lost?"

Kagome opened her eyes slowly and glanced down on the small child clutching her hand, that's when she saw it. Nearly imperceptible to the naked eye, there was a crack in the floor that wasn't supposed to be there.

Smirking, she bent down and studied the floor.

"Not anymore Rin, not anymore."

She traced the crack with a finger, lightly scraping it with a claw. It was cleverly hidden and she had no doubt that she wouldn't have been able to see it if she hadn't been a hanyou. The crack formed a rectangle, revealing a nearly invisible hatch in the floor.

Backing off the hatch, she brought Rin with her and studied the layout one last time before sinking her claws into the wood. Ripping the hatch up, she looked down into the dark hole and glanced once at the young girl.

"I'll carry you."

(ooo)

Naraku was fuming. Through Kanna's mirror he had realised that his plan had failed. Now he was being attacked from both the outside and from the inside. It aggravated him to no end that he wasn't able to follow the miko's and the girl's progress with the mirror. It seemed that the miko had raised some sort of shield to hide them from his view.

It enraged him. How dare she, a lowly human, challenge him?

(ooooo)

A/n: Well I finally updated (because I'm on vacation --;)... Thanks for all the reviews.

Kagura's wind attacks:

Fuujin no Mai – Dance of Blades

Ryuuja no Mai – Dance of the Dragon


	13. Pursuers in the Dark

Chapter Thirteen – Pursuers in the Darkness

(ooooo)

With Rin securely clutched in her arms, Kagome made her way through the dark corridor. Her nose was assaulted with many different scents, but she had learned not to trust that particular sense in this situation. What Hamei had mentioned about Naraku messing with scents seemed to be true.

She hadn't moved far down the murky and dark corridor, before she noticed Rin's scent disappearing and she reasoned that if Rin's scent had been affected, then other scents were probably affected too.

The corridor she walked through was located underneath the ground and the only light offered were a few torched located very far apart. If she hadn't recently obtained better night-vision, she would've been practically blind when a torch was absent in the corridor.

As she walked, Kagome was on the lookout for any stairs or a latter that would lead her up and into the free.

Rounding a bend in the corridor they were suddenly confronted with a crossway. The corridor split into four different directions and Kagome wasn't really sure which one to choose. Rin wiggled around in Kagome's grasp and Kagome took it as a hint to let her down. Lowering herself carefully to the floor, Kagome opened her arms and released the young girl.

"Where are we going Kagome?" Rin whispered slowly, remembering to keep as quiet as possible.

Kagome shook her head as she contemplated the options. It could be dangerous to wander about in the underground corridors, especially when she couldn't rely on her sense of smell. She didn't have the opportunity to backtrack by scent if she got lost, and the corridor didn't provide any signs or marks that she could recognise and use as reference-points.

"Just wait a second..." Kagome murmured slowly.

Twisting her head in different directions she strained her hearing again. She could vaguely hear the sounds coming from the battle above ground, but she couldn't hear anything else that would provide a clue as to where she was, or which way to choose.

Sighing, she decided to take the right turn. If she kept turning to the right at each crossway, she couldn't get lost...

Taking Rin's hand again, she took the right turn and began to move forwards again.

After many more crossroads, Kagome became aware of another presence not far away. It was faint, as if it was shrouded or blocked by something, the way sound would seem muffled if you heard it through a wall.

Slowing down, she began to feel really uncomfortable with the situation. She wasn't close enough to feel what kind of aura the presence had. It could be both human, youkai and hanyou. It could be Naraku...

She wasn't the one that was supposed to be brave... that was Inuyasha's role. But on the other hand, if Inuyasha was in trouble, she was willing to do anything to help him. Just like he would do the same for her...

It could be Naraku, but it could be Hamei's sister too, or it could be someone else. She only had to move close enough to be able to feel the aura's texture...

Having decided, Kagome stopped and turned to Rin, whispering to her that she should wait here. The presence wasn't too far off and Kagome would be able to keep her eyes on Rin at the same time. Rin nodded to show that she understood, but grabbed Kagome's sleeve before she could rise again.

"What should Rin do if she hears something from behind?" She asked slowly.

Kagome thought for a moment before answering. If Rin began to run, she would make too much noise and maybe trigger some kind of hunting instinct, but she couldn't just stand there and wait to get caught either.

"If you hear something from behind, walk as silently as you can towards me and keep close to the wall. Try to keep your breath controlled and don't scream. Do you think you can do that?"

When Rin nodded, Kagome pulled her in for a tight hug.

"Don't worry. You'll be back with Sesshoumaru in no time, just wait and see."

With that said Kagome released her hold on the small girl and began to creep silently down the dark corridor. She hadn't moved far before she was able to discern the aura. It was hanyou. Moving closer she assured herself that it wasn't Naraku's because it didn't expel any of his negative 'vibes'. Sighing in relief at the discovery, Kagome stopped in front of a small door. The hanyou was on the other side...

When Kagome tried to yank the door open, she discovered that it was locked shut. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Rin was fine, before flexing her claws and bringing them down on the bolt that held the door.

After a small token of resistance, the door swung open on creaking hinges.

Before Kagome got a chance to glance inside, her nose was assaulted by a foul stench of decaying blood. Eyes watering, Kagome was forced to back away as she gasped for fresh air. She barely managed to keep her stomach from heaving as she glanced into the room. The little light provided by a single torch did nothing to help her see what the room contained. The walls were black as coal, darkened by both old and new blood.

Holding her breath as she entered, Kagome found her way to the hanyou by following the light of her aura. She didn't take extra time to check if the person was okay as she lifted the body up and nearly ran out of the room, slamming the door shut after her.

Finally, with the foul stench somewhat muted by the closed door, Kagome was able to gain her bearings. She looked down at the body in her arms and saw that it was indeed a female hanyou. No doubt Hamei's sister. She didn't look good though. Even in the dim light from the torch, Kagome was able to see how pale she was. She was covered in smudges of dried blood too, but Kagome couldn't find any open wounds on her.

She didn't get more time to check her health as a weak scraping sound reached her ears. Looking up, Kagome realised with a startled curse that she had been too preoccupied to check up on Rin since she came out from the terrible room.

Rin was edging closer by the minute, glancing over her shoulder every second to keep track of something that Kagome hadn't noticed until now. Something was coming...

This couldn't be good.

Adjusting her hold on the hanyou in her arms, Kagome gestured for Rin to move faster. Rin obliged quickly and when she was within reach, Kagome grabbed her and swung her up on her back in one smooth motion. They would have to move quickly if they wanted even a small chance at escaping.

Not looking back to check how far behind their pursuer were, Kagome charged forwards with supernatural speed and agility. After some moments, they reached another crossroad and Kagome sped around the corner.

Bending down, she allowed Rin to crawl off her back while she put the unconscious hanyou down as well.

It would do them no good to run around in the dark corridors. If the pursuer knew the way, he would have no trouble getting ahead of them and catching them by surprise. Besides, charging around in the corridor made too much noise and it could lure out other pursuers.

No. the best they could do was wait for the pursuer and then ambush him. Using whatever surprise they had to their own advantage.

Kagome looked around while she tried to catch her breath and calm her nerves. She didn't know what was after them and she was too riled up to think clearly. She only hoped that the little bit of training she had receive from Inuyasha would pay off.

As she strained her hearing and concentrated on the sound of the approaching footsteps, she realised that this was the first time she would fight for real after becoming a hanyou. This was the first time she would fight with everything she had, mainly her claws, her strength and her speed. This was the first time that her killing someone could be the only option.

The thought chilled her and yet, as her eyes met Rin's and then moved to the battered hanyou at her feet she realised that she could do it. If it was necessary, she would do it.

When the footsteps were only a few feet away, Kagome rose to a crouching position and she flexed her claws.

It was now or never.

Pouncing forwards, she registered the startled expression in her pursuer's face as her hand came around his neck and locked tight, her claws drawing small droplets of blood as they pierced his tender skin. She slammed him into the opposite wall while her own eyes widened in recognition.

"Miroku?"

She released her hold and he dropped to the floor coughing.

(ooo)

Inuyasha shook his head to dispel the dizziness when he finally recovered after the harsh landing. In his own subconscious, he was vaguely aware that he'd probably be out could now if it hadn't been for the 'training' he'd received from Kagome on a daily basis when she 'sat' him.

Jumping to his feet once again, he looked around at his surroundings to get an idea of how the battle was going.

Deep cracks had been made in the ground from Kagura's wind-blades and Inuyasha was somewhat surprised to see that the ground was beginning to give in under him. Small cracks began to spread from where he had landed and then made a criss-crossing pattern as they moved away from him.

Cursing loudly he barely managed to jump out of the way before the ground disappeared from underneath him, but it didn't stop there. Once it had begun it continued onwards and it occurred to Inuyasha that the ground was full of hidden passages. He had obviously started some kind of a domino effect when he had connected with the ground as hard as he had done. The deep gouges left by Kagura's attacks had only helped to weaken the ground...

Jumping out of the way once again, Inuyasha turned around to find that his half brother was still locked in a fierce battle with the wind witch. He would have joined him, but he realised with a sudden chill creeping up his spine that if he did, he'd only put them all in a graver danger.

Somehow he had managed to loose the Tetsusaiga...

Whirling around he tried to catch a glimpse of it amongst all the fallen debris, but he couldn't see it anywhere.

This didn't bode well at all.

(ooooo)

A/n: Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!


	14. Waking the Youkai

Chapter Fourteen – Waking the Youkai

(ooooo)

Shortly after discovering that the pursuer had been Miroku, Kagome and her company found themselves in grave danger yet again.

A rumbling sound alerted Kagome to a very terrifying fact... the underground corridors were caving in.

"We have to run." She stated quickly as her gaze was fixed on the direction from where the sound was originating. She didn't know if Miroku or anybody else had noticed it yet.

Miroku didn't question her, but quickly complied when she told him to carry Rin while she carried the hanyou.

"Do you remember the way out?" She yelled over her shoulder to Miroku while she tried to keep her panic contained.

Being buried alive was not something she wished to experience in the near future and if they wanted a chance to get out alive, they had to act quickly.

"Go straight forwards at the next crossroad." He yelled back. The added burden of the small girl had him panting for breath as he ran.

Kagome nodded, not really caring if he noticed or not as the crossroad came into view. It wasn't that was away, but she still didn't know if they would make it. After all, the corridor continued after the crossroad too.

Just before she reached the crossroad their chance of survival dropped rapidly and Kagome felt her heart lodge in her throat. A humanoid figure came running out from the corridor to her right and Kagome knew without a doubt who this creature was.

In the worst possible situation ever, she was confronted with her worst nightmare...

"Naraku..."

The name was only uttered as a whisper as Kagome screeched to a stop, barely noticing when Miroku bumped into her from behind.

Naraku seemed to have heard her anyway, or he had sensed their presence. Either way Kagome began to loose control of her panic as the collapsing ground came neared and Naraku turned to glare at her with vicious eyes filled with malice.

Naraku's eyes widened slightly in both surprise and disgust as his eyes landed on her group, but they soon turned back to his normal loathing expression... then he smirked, sending a tentacle towards her with incredible speed.

Kagome didn't even get a chance to blink as it snatched a hold of the jewel shards hanging from her neck and then retreated back to its owner.

"Have a nice death miko." He sneered as another tentacle shot through the 'roof' in the middle of the crossroad, effectively starting another cave-in from that direction too.

"I'll cherish this memory for the rest of eternity." He cackled softly, the sound barely audible over the thunder from the collapsing earth.

Kagome turned in panic, looking both ways in a desperate attempt to see a hidden way out. There was none. They were trapped.

"Any ideas Miroku?" She asked in near panic.

He shook his head frantically and when Kagome glanced to Rin and saw her shivering in near panic too, something in her snapped.

She didn't want them to die. She didn't want any of her friends to die. She didn't want any of those she cared about, those she loved, to die...

Her blood boiled and she felt an almost intoxicating sensation with the feel of it. Power surged through her, filled her, and replaced her terror. The feeling was...

Incredible.

Turning, she pulled all of them into a tight embrace while the white in her eyes gradually began to bleed red, but the centres turned completely golden instead of the fierce blue she had seen when Inuyasha transformed. Her fangs and claws grew longer, stronger and sharper, and the old claw-marks on her arm took on the colour of fresh, crimson blood.

Of course the now complete darkness in the collapsing corridor prevented anyone from actually witnessing the change in her, but it didn't stop a startled monk from noticing the sudden growth she had in both her youki and her miko-power.

The thunder of collapsing earth grew deafening and the air filled with dust, making it harder to breathe. The walls were closing in around them.

Unlike the rest of her company, Kagome wasn't afraid anymore. In fact, she waited for the collapsing dirt to come closer. She calculated...

...and leaped straight up.

Straight through the weakened layers of earth at the exact right moment.

For a breathtaking second she was blinded by the sudden brightness of the day as she soared through the air, the remaining force behind her leap continuing to bring her higher. When they finally began descending, she had readjusted her vision and was able to make a graceful, soft landing.

The air was suddenly eerily quiet as Kagome began to look around. The only sound reaching her sensitive ears was the continued dull thunder of the collapsing corridors and she realised with a start that everyone had stopped whatever they had been doing and were now staring at her in surprised amazement.

Se began to feel really awkward until Rin broke the spell by freeing herself from Miroku's and Kagome's embrace and then running head on towards a familiar youkai lord.

"Lord Sesshoumaru-sama! Lord Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin is so happy. Rin knew that Sesshoumaru-sama would come for her!" She continued to yell in excitement as she ran towards the frozen youkai.

Kagome took the opportunity to look around on the battlefield. On the farthest end from her, near the entrance of the large building, she could see Sango pinning her brother to the ground while Kirara watched her back in case anybody chose to attack her mistress while she was vulnerable.

Farther away from the building, but closer to her, she saw the familiar glimpse of silver and crimson as Inuyasha ran directly towards her. Her heart leapt in her throat at the realisation that he was battered, but still unharmed and she began to run towards him too.

Inuyasha's eyes widened and he tried to skitter to a stop when he realised that Kagome was running towards him as well. Unfortunately Kagome didn't seem to want to stop as she sped up and tackled him to the ground with a big smile plastered on her face.

"I'm so glad you're alright. I was so worried that you'd get hurt. You're not hurt are you?" She was ranting as she straddled him to the ground, pulling at his clothes to see if he had any injuries that she couldn't sense.

Inuyasha's face flamed scarlet in a blush and he began to push her prying arms away when another fact caught his attention.

"You're transformed." He stated in a startled voice.

"Huh?" Kagome responded as she tried to come to terms with the sudden change in subject.

"You've transformed." He said again, this time a little more forceful.

Kagome stopped moving and glanced down on her extended claws, a lop-sided grin spreading on her face.

"Well... it kind of... just happened." She finally said.

Inuyasha's gaze turned harder as he glared at her.

"Are you hurt? Were you in any mortal danger?" He asked insistently.

"I swear if that bastard Naraku has hurt you, I'll shred him..." He continued, his anger rising.

Kagome was a bit startled to notice that Inuyasha's own eyes were beginning to bleed red, and her eyes moved to his side.

"Where is your sword?" She asked, suddenly apprehensive of the danger in the situation, mainly the danger towards her friends.

This time it was Inuyasha's turn to look startled, but his expression quickly turned to embarrassment as his transformation stopped and reversed.

"I lost the sword sometime during the fight and now I can't find it. I haven't really had time to look for it." He said slowly, quietly.

"Oh..." She said as she suddenly remembered something important.

"I'm sorry..." She continued, but before she could finish, Inuyasha interrupted her.

"What for? It's not your fault that I lost the sword."

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed as she glared at him.

"I'm aware of that. I was going to say that I was sorry because Naraku took the shards of the jewel that I carried." She finally finished.

"WHAT!?"

Kagome had to cover her ears at the shear volume of Inuyasha's voice. It didn't take long for Kagome to realise by the way Inuyasha's eyebrows drew together and the way his eyes sparked that he was angry. The yelling was of course a dead giveaway too.

The situation seemed very familiar to Kagome and when the memory clicked into order, she couldn't help but giggle.

"Too bad it wasn't another lecherous monk again?" She commented lightly in an attempt to cool his anger.

Inuyasha's expression barely got a chance to change after she spoke, when the ground suddenly began to shake fiercely. A rumbling sound escalated till Inuyasha plastered his ears against his scull and Kagome covered hers with her hands.

She was about to ask what was going on when something huge suddenly erupted from the building where she had been held. Planks and bricks from the sundered walls flew everywhere and forced Kagome to throw herself flat against Inuyasha in an attempt to dodge them.

Kagome was the first to recover and when she rolled away from Inuyasha's body, she was only able to utter one softly spoken exclamation;

"Uh-oh!"

Inuyasha followed closely with his own way of expressing anger and worry, or feelings of any kind;

"Shit!" He began with an angry growl, and then he continued onwards; "Damn! Fucking son-of-a-bitch's asshole!"

Kagome had seen Naraku many times before. She had stood up to him with barely a hint of fear on many occasions. She had dealt him blows on some of their encounters and she had met many of Naraku's incarnations. With the many different encounters, she had thought herself immune to any-kind of form Naraku might appear in. She had after all seen him in a human form, in a baboon-pelt, as a giant spider and as many other things, but she had never before encountered Naraku the way he was now.

Now that she had, she fervently wished that she hadn't...

(ooooo)

A/n: Another evil cliffhanger... (dodges objects) If you hurt me I wont be able to finish...


	15. Battle of Instincts

Chapter Fifteen – Battle of Instincts

-ooooo-

Kagome quickly scrambled to her feet, never taking her eyes off Naraku.

His form was huge and it seemed like most of his lower body consisted of tentacles covered in a slimy, hazy green layer of poison. The parts of him that weren't tentacles were instead covered in a scaly hide with sharp spikes protruding here and there. Naraku's arms had taken on a ghastly brown colour and they were abnormally long, designed to be able to reach out and kill an enemy before he could even attempt an attack. He didn't have normal hands anymore and the long arms ended in three viciously sharp claws that were practically dripping of poison.

Suddenly Kagome found herself missing Sesshoumaru's own poison claws… they seemed harmless in comparison.

The more Kagome stared at him, the more she realised that Naraku had tried to rid himself of any resemblance he might've had to a human being.

'Tried to,' being the key word.

He did have one part of him that still looked human and that was his face. His head was ringed and protected by sharp and poisonous spikes, but his face still looked human.

Kagome shuddered. It would've been better if he hadn't looked human at all. The form Naraku now wore was grotesque enough, but somehow the pale human face that protruded only added to the effect. Somehow it seemed like a mockery… a promise of the twisted fate that awaited them if Naraku managed to absorb them.

Naraku's looks however, wasn't what had made Kagome shudder with a sudden shill and back away from the enormous form. No, what really scared her was the miasma that rolled of Naraku in shocking waves. It was stronger than she'd ever sensed it before and she wasn't sure if even her arrows would be able to purify the malicious aura.

Inside him, she could see the aura of the nearly finished jewel glint darkly with vicious intent…

Inuyasha had just managed to push himself to his feet when Naraku's ominous laughter filtered through the clearing, sending a shill down Kagome's spine.

Ever so slowly he turned his gaze towards her and Inuyasha and Kagome had to force herself to meet his crimson eyes with her own. As their eyes met, her blood began to boil wildly in her veins. It pounded fiercely in her head and she had no doubts as to what it craved… blood!

It wanted blood and it wanted Naraku's.

She didn't understand why the sudden urge to kill kicked in now when she'd been normal only a moment earlier, but with an odd feeling of elated freedom she found that she didn't care.

"Kagome? Are you all right?"

Inuyasha's concerned voice barely filtered through the loud pounding of her blood and she discovered with a certain amount of surprise that she was growling.

Not that it really mattered.

Cracking her knuckles, she never moved her gaze from Naraku. Feelings she'd never felt before coursed through her and she was acting mostly on instinct. Her blood screamed for her to attack and at the same time it was indecisive. Youkai instincts were battling her miko instincts and she didn't move even as her growl escalated.

Her youkai blood instructed her to attack. It instructed her to get the threat out of the way. Naraku was an enemy and he was challenging her by keeping eye contact. Her youkai blood demanded for her to answer the challenge. It demanded his death.

Her miko instincts on the other hand told her something else entirely and even if they saw Naraku as a threat to her life, they also told her something more important altogether. He was a threat to her friends… to Inuyasha. If she moved, Inuyasha would be in Naraku's line of sight and she never wanted that. Without his sword he would loose his mind, possibly his soul.

Her instincts as a miko were to protect first. Protecting, helping and saving those who needed it came before anything else. It didn't necessarily mean that they never told her to attack. Quite the contrary, they had told her to attack dozens of times even before she became a hanyou. They had told her to attack every time she'd drawn her bow and fired at an enemy youkai, but they only advised her to attack if it wouldn't endanger the innocent, or if it was absolutely necessary.

If she attacked now, she would leave Inuyasha vulnerable.

After what seemed like an eternity for Kagome, but was in reality only a matter of seconds, her youkai blood finally settled down somewhat. It still wanted to attack Naraku and continued to boil under the surface, but it had come to realise the threat that would present itself for her mate if she did.

Her mate? Now where did that thought come from?

Too confused and riled up to care, Kagome finally acknowledged Inuyasha's presence. In fact, it would've been hard enough not to because he'd begun to shake her shoulders in an attempt to bring her out of whatever daze she was in.

"Kagome answer me." His voice was insistence now, if not even a bit pleading.

She blinked. A bit surprised to find him directly in front of her face. She hadn't noticed that he'd moved.

"She can't hear you hanyou!" A mocking voice broke through his attempts.

"She's caught by the bloodlust. Like any hanyou filth that's pushed to the edge." Naraku's voice broke into an evil chuckle.

Kagome blinked again and she knew that Inuyasha had noticed that she was 'back again'. Obviously, Naraku had not because he continued his mocking ranting.

"I must admit that I was a bit surprised to find that she had been corrupted by youkai blood and turned into a hanyou. What a delightful evil turn of events led to that? I'm so sorry I missed it, but now she's fortunately no longer a threat to me. As corrupted as she is now, there's no possible way that she can conjure anymore purifying energy."

His mouth widened into a humourless smirk, upper lip pulling back to reveal a row of razor sharp fangs hidden behind his human face.

Frowning Kagome looked askance at Inuyasha.

"What is he talking about?" She half asked, half growled.

Inuyasha shrugged. They both knew that she still had her miko powers. After all, that was what had initially kept the alien youkai blood from turning her into full youkai in the first place. Her miko powers had balanced the transformation, and even now that she had her youkai blood pounding freely through her, her powers grew to maintain the balance and keep her in a hanyou form.

She didn't get the chance to say anything else since Naraku had decided that he had talked enough to sustain his ego.

He lunged without warning.

Kagome's breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened in horror. Inuyasha had his back turned to Naraku and he didn't have a chance to turn and see what caused Kagome's expression before Naraku was upon them.

Or he would've been hadn't it been for an intervening factor.

"Foolish hanyou." Sesshoumaru's voice echoed flatly over the sudden silence that followed Naraku's attack.

"Didn't you ever learn never to turn your back to an enemy?"

Sesshoumaru didn't take the time to wait for a reply before he used his energy-whip to force Naraku backwards.

Apparently Sesshoumaru had brought Rin to the relative safety of the forest after her return, and now he was eager to repay Naraku for the numerous insults he had done towards him.

Blinking once in surprise, Kagome quickly shook it off and noticed that Inuyasha was about to throw himself into the fight without his sword. She didn't even take the time to try to talk reason to him. Experience told her it wouldn't matter. Instead she grabbed him by the shoulders and twisted him around, forcing him to face her.

"There's no way you're going to fight Naraku now without your sword. You could loose your soul!" She growled fiercely at him as she began to drag him towards Miroku and the unconscious hanyou lying on the ground where she left them.

Inuyasha tried to protest, but casting one glance at Kagome's disturbingly red eyes, he decided to let it slip this once. He wasn't worried. Not at all…

"Keh!"

Finally reaching Miroku, Kagome released her hold on Inuyasha and began to look frantically around. Her blood still wanted to fight and kill Naraku, but she couldn't do that if Inuyasha risked getting hurt. Therefore, she naturally had to find the sword.

"Have you seen Inuyasha's sword around?" She turned around and asked Miroku quickly.

He shook his head and Kagome couldn't keep a growl from escaping.

"Fuck!"

Miroku traded glances with Inuyasha at the language she had used, but then quickly decided that it wasn't important. Inuyasha lacking his sword on the other hand…

"I can run over to Sango and ask her if you and Inuyasha stay her with the hanyou." Miroku indicated the unconscious hanyou and Kagome nodded, ignoring Inuyasha's curious glance.

"Fine, but be quick about it."

She didn't need to tell Miroku twice. As soon as the words left her mouth, he was off in the direction of the female demon exterminator.

Indicating the unconscious hanyou by their feet, Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and regarded Kagome with curiosity.

"Who's that?" He asked lightly.

Kagome glanced at the hanyou and shrugged. She didn't really know who it was, only who she thought it was.

"I think it's the half-sister of a youkai that Naraku manipulated into casting a sleeping spell on us so that he could kidnap me. Naraku had captured the youkai's sister to get her to cooperate, but I doubt she will do it now that Naraku doesn't have her sister anymore."

Inuyasha nodded that he understood and then returned to the task of looking for his sword. Kagome regarded him from the corner of her eye for a brief second before she turned to watch the battle between Naraku and Sesshoumaru.

They had been close matched in the beginning. Sesshoumaru had used his energy whip both to attack and to defend, but he hadn't been able to harm Naraku yet. Whatever shield Naraku had to defend himself, it was too strong for the energy whip. So far none of them had been harmed. Sesshoumaru used his incredible speed to dodge multiple attacks from Naraku's tentacles, but Kagome could see small signs that indicated that the tai youkai was beginning to tire. It wasn't so weird really, because Sesshoumaru had used a lot of youki to be able to withstand Naraku's poisonous miasma.

Kagome knew that Sesshoumaru couldn't use the energy whip much longer. He had to choose between using the energy whip, or maintaining the youki barrier that protected him from Naraku's miasma. He would have to abandon the whip, after all he couldn't fight Naraku if he died of poisoning.

"Sango hasn't seen the sword either."

Inuyasha's voice pulled Kagome from her thoughts and she turned to look in Miroku's and Sango's direction. Miroku was currently waving his hands and shaking his head in an attempt to communicate over the distance and the increasing noise from the ongoing battle.

She didn't get a chance to reply because one of Naraku's numerous tentacles came speeding towards her and Inuyasha.

The attack was targeted on her and she barely managed to dodge it while Inuyasha crouched down to pick up the unconscious hanyou. This time it was Inuyasha turn to curse because the attack on her continued and he couldn't do anything to help her when he had the young hanyou in his arms.

"Get her to the forest!" Kagome shouted in-between the dodging she was forced to do. "Get Shippo to look after her." She had caught Shippo's scent a long time ago and knew that he was hiding in the forest. He wasn't too far off…

Inuyasha looked doubting at her, torn between concern for her and concern for the unconscious hanyou he had troubles deciding what to do.

Kagome kept dodging and was even forced to drop on her back for a brief moment when the tentacle came sweeping after her in a low motion. It didn't take long before Naraku decided to attack Inuyasha too and he cursed as he jumped away, the movement leading him farther away from Kagome and closer towards the forest.

Kagome glanced briefly in Naraku's direction and saw that other tentacles were quickly approaching. It seemed like Naraku didn't have a problem with fighting two battles at the same time even if they were at the opposite end of each other.

Growling in exasperation and rising irritation, Kagome looked back at Inuyasha and saw that he still hadn't decided exactly what to do. It was a dangerous situation and as the danger increased, so did the intensity of the youkai blood running through her. It was with rising dread that Kagome realised that she was loosing the fight with her youkai instincts. It wouldn't be long before she stopped dodging Naraku's attacks and began to answer them instead.

She had to get Inuyasha to move. If not for his own sake, then for the sake of the hanyou he was carrying.

"Get her to the forest!" Kagome shouted again and the intensity of her command finally got through to him and Inuyasha nodded gravely.

"Fine!" He shouted back as he turned to leave.

"But if you get yourself killed I'll never forgive you… stubborn bitch."

It was a strange thing for Inuyasha to say, but at the moment Kagome didn't have the time or the sanity to think it over. Naraku's tentacles attacked her with purpose and coordination and she felt something snap inside of her.

-ooooo-

A/n: Sorry for the long wait, but I'm really busy with exams at the moment. I've added a section to my profile where I'll explain why updating's late and so on… I'll also add other general information that concerns my stories. If you hav questions, you are free to e-mail me. I'm also really grateful for all the reviews. Thanks a lot folks!

Oh, and people have been curious as to how Kagome's able to contain her sanity so far after transforming. I'll answer that later in the story so don't worry. Everything has a reason.


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